Former Arsenal man Martin Keown has said that Tottenham Hotspur can keep hold of manager Mauricio Pochettino if they match his ambition.
The Mirror reported this week that Manchester United and Real Madrid could both target the Spurs chief in the near future, however Keown feels the Argentine can be convinced to stay in North London.
“This is the big worry for Spurs fans. The cat is well and truly out of the bag with Pochettino,” he wrote in his ‘Tackle Keown’ column for the Daily Mail [12:32]. “If Tottenham want to keep him, they have to back him with the resources he needs to take this club as far as he can.
“The criticism levelled at Tottenham is that they have won plenty of admiration but no trophies. Pochettino could go somewhere like Manchester United to achieve that aim but it would take him at least two years to get them to Tottenham’s level.
“Tottenham can fulfil Pochettino’s ambition. Once they have moved into their new stadium, they need to back him with the resources to do so.”
OPINION
Keown appears to have got the measure of things, here. Pochettino is naturally going to be linked with top managerial jobs because he has done a phenomenal job at Spurs, but that doesn’t mean that he’s going to be going anywhere any time soon. He seems perfectly happy with Tottenham, and if he wanted to leave he would have joined Madrid this summer. Having said that, if the Argentine ever starts to think he’s taken the club as far as he can then he’ll be off. Therefore the club needs to continue making strides forward and progressing both on and off the field. Once they’re in their new stadium that will be key in keeping Pochettino, but they need to give him significant transfer funds after that so that he can take this team to the next level. At the moment they are a little bit behind Manchester City and Liverpool, and Pochettino will need to be convinced that they can catch up with those two teams if he is to stay long term.