Mauricio Pochettino has hailed Tottenham chief scout Steve Hitchin for convincing him to sign Lucas Moura earlier this year.
Spurs recruited the Brazil international from Paris Saint-Germain in the January window for a fee of around £25million after he had slipped down the pecking order at the club following the mega-money 2017 arrivals of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Moura had a slow start to his Spurs career but made his biggest impact yet by scoring twice as the team secured a landmark 3-0 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday night.
“Yes, many many praise he is going to receive now,” Pochettino said at his post-match media conference, as quoted by Football London. “But for me I want to say to our chief scout Steve Hitchen and all the people that worked with him, because they advised to sign him.
“When the people sometimes criticise because always it is tough now, I think I need to say well done, because today’s performance from Lucas Moura, for the people that advised and feel responsible too, they need to be praised too. That is why I want to congratulate them.
“There are always people who are working behind and it was a fantastic job because today I think Lucas deserves a lot of credit.”
OPINION
Spurs’ win at Old Trafford was vital for the team in laying down a title marker, and securing three points that appear worth far more than that given their dreadful record at the stadium and poor results on the road against top-six rivals in recent seasons. The convincing win was also huge personally for Moura and could come to be regarded as a pivotal moment in his Tottenham career. The Brazilian attacker scored Spurs’ second and third goals, and his pace and running caused United’s defences immense problems throughout the match. Had Son Heung-Min not been on international duty, there is some doubt as to whether Moura would have been in the starting XI. But now, the south Korean will have a fight on his hands to win back his starting place despite his own sterling efforts in the last few seasons. Moura is a class act who adds a new dimension to the Spurs attack which has been light on scorching pace and trickery in the final third.