Darren Bent shared he thought Mauricio Pochettino suggesting he could exit Tottenham if he won the Champions League with them was the manager’s way of sending Daniel Levy a message.
The former Spurs striker stated that Pochettino was perhaps taking a sly dig to claim he would “go home”, as quoted by The Telegraph, if he was able to lift the prestigious European tournament with his current side.
Bent claimed that Pochettino was suggesting that if he wasn’t handed a suitable transfer kitty in the summer then there would be no more he could achieve with his current squad if he managed to get the Champions League trophy.
“Maybe it’s not a dig but it’s a sly nod to Daniel Levy by saying these things as if we get to the summer and there’s no money to spend or there’s only a little bit then there’s no more I can do if we win the Champions League,” said Bent on Sky Sports News (19:16, Tuesday May 7th).
“I’ve taken the club as far as it can go by winning this tournament so maybe it was a sly dig at Levy.”
OPINION
Bent may be hoping that Pochettino wasn’t serious due to the pundit’s connection to Spurs, but he does make a lot of sense. Pochettino shocked everyone on Tuesday by teasing a potential exit from Spurs as by all accounts he seems very happy at the club. However given that he has been limited in the transfer market, it’s understandable that he may have been trying to sending Levy a message. The Spurs chairman is no doubt aware that if Pochettino lifts the Champions League this season then it will be a remarkable achievement that deserves extra praise consider how his squad doesn’t have much quality in depth. Pochettino would need at least three or four top-quality players to walk through the door in the summer if he was to have any chance of building on a potential Champions League triumph, and maybe he just wanted to make it clear he’d be willing to walk if not given the right tools.