Daniel Levy is jealous and worried I will leave Spurs, jokes Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino has joked that Daniel Levy is “concerned” and “worried” about losing him as Tottenham Hotspur manager.
The Argentine was in relaxed mood after guiding his side to the Champions League knockout stages with a 1-1 draw at Barcelona on Tuesday. He has been repeatedly linked with jobs at Real Madrid and Manchester United and told how the prospect of him leaving to join another club had made chairman Levy “jealous”.
The 46-year-old signed a five-year deal in May but, addressing the matter of the repeated speculation and conversations with his superior, Pochettino spoke in a jovial manner. “Daniel does not laugh,” he said. “I know it gets boring but he maybe is worried, he is concerned. It is normal. It is not nice for Daniel to hear all that history of course.
“Do I have to reassure him? No. It is like in football when the sporting director or the club president says ‘no, the manager is going to be here and we trust in him’, and next game [he is] out. If you reassure something it is because you are thinking different things.
“He is a worried man because he is jealous about me!”
Levy is known for being a divisive character but Pochettino has come to his defence and believes that deep down he has a big heart.
“After 4½ years, we have shared a lot of different moments,” he said. “He is not an easy man. But he is so passionate to create some things for the supporters and the staff and the players.
“It is not for him. One example – he built the hotel here. The Lodge. It’s a five-star boutique hotel. I once asked him when he is going to sleep there and he said: ‘No, no, no. It is not for me. That is for you and the players.’
“The team wins and the praise is for the players, the coaching staff or the manager. I think he deserves fantastic recognition for what he’s doing, along with the board.”
