Daniel Levy has made it clear to the Tottenham board that he will refuse to allow Mauricio Pochettino to join Manchester United at all costs, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claim the Spurs chairman has told friends and allies at the club he regards the manager “so highly he cannot risk losing him” and even a £50million offer will be rejected.
The Sun report United are tempted to pay the £34million value remaining on Pochettino’s contract as well as a further £16million “for the world’s most wanted football coach”.
OPINION
While no one should doubt that negotiating with Levy over one of his in-demand employees is about as much fun as pulling teeth – stories of his negotiating style are legion – ultimately the future of Pochettino will depend upon the man himself. If he wants out, a way will be found for that to happen. Levy can pull up the drawbridge, slap a massive price tag on his manager and demand world-record compensation, but it will mean little if Pochettino wants to quit and United are willing to pay an eye-boggling sum to get him. It is instructive that Pochettino does not even have an agent to do his bidding. He does it himself, choosing to look chairmen and executives in the eye, and represent himself in talks. He’s a shrewd man who knows his own value. Levy has been around the block more than most, and will have a plan A, B and C on how to keep hold of the Argentine who has transformed a club, but ultimately there is little he can do if Pochettino doesn’t want to be at the club. Then, it will simply come down to how much the compensation fee will be.