OPINION
Manchester United sacked their manager Jose Mourinho on Tuesday after a poor start to the season which has left them 19 points behind league leaders and bitter rivals Liverpool.
It was a move which was always coming but one which has still sent shockwaves through English football as one of the world’s biggest clubs searches for their next boss.
United will now bring a caretaker manager until the end of the season before a permanent appointment is made in the summer, and attention now turns to who that may be.
Unfortunately for Tottenham fans, one of the biggest names being put forward is their manager Mauricio Pochettino, who has been linked with the Old Trafford job for a long while.
Obviously there is a big case that Pochettino will want to remain at Spurs with the new stadium on the way and the squad he has built over the years.
However, the onus now falls onto chairman Daniel Levy to give Pochettino the backing he needs to rebuff United’s interest and keep going with the project he is building at Spurs.
As reported by well-placed Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold, all Pochettino desires is to feel valued by his employers, who must back him to the hilt in the upcoming windows.
There's going to be so much interest in Pochettino in the summer from United and Madrid. The Spurs boss is all about loyalty, but it's also all on the club to back him with everything they can to make him feel as wanted as possible. That's all the Argentine asks, to feel valued. https://t.co/5e0XLaN08p
— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) December 18, 2018
It now all comes down to Levy and how badly he wants to keep Pochettino at the club after this worrying development, with the two known to enjoy a good working relationship in north London.
Obviously the club’s finances will not be in the best of shape with the new stadium having drained their accounts in going well over-budget, but Levy must do everything he can to release the funds needed to back Pochettino.
This quite simply is the biggest challenge of Levy’s time at the helm, even bigger than the stadium itself, because that venture will fall flat if Pochettino is not around.
He must pull out all the stops to keep Pochettino, and continue the progress that Tottenham have made under the brilliant Argentine.