Pochettino comfortable with speculation over future

London (AFP) – Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said Thursday he will never get bored of stories linking him to other clubs because it means he is doing something right.

Fresh speculation about Pochettino’s future has emerged this week following the club’s qualification to the knockout stage of the Champions League, with reports suggesting the club are braced for interest from Manchester United and Real Madrid.

“This type of news I think does not upset or bore people,” said the Argentine, who signed a five-year contract in May and has constantly spoken about how happy he is in north London.

“I prefer that newspapers talk about things like this than talk about ‘Tottenham is going to sack me’, or ‘people are tired of me’, or ‘we are in a difficult situation’.

“Of course, if I choose one situation I choose this one. I am not bored of it, of course.”

Pochettino has steered Spurs into the last 16 of the Champions League and to third spot in the Premier League in spite of several challenges this season, including having to play their home games at Wembley.

And he is relieved that most of the focus is on Manchester City and Liverpool.

“We are there, we are in a good position of course,” he said. “It is normal that the perception is different. I am happy with the perception today when the perception from the media is only Manchester City and Liverpool and not us.”

Spurs will find out their Champions League fate on Monday when the draw could pair them with Porto, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus or Bayern Munich.

They will play their first leg at home in February and Pochettino is desperate for his side to be in their new home by then. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, on the site of their old venue of White Hart Lane, is set for completion sometime in early 2019.

It will be tight as on Wednesday the club announced they will play their Premier League game with Manchester United on January 13 at Wembley.

“I hope and I wish to play our first leg in the new stadium,” he said. “Now, I don’t know if it is going to be there or not, or in Wembley. We need to wait. But my wish and hope is we can pay the first leg in our new stadium.”