EMERY LURED BY POCH CHAT

MAURICIO POCHETTINO has revealed he advised Unai Emery to come to manage in England.

The animosity of the North London derby is not shared by Spurs boss Pochettino and his Arsenal counterpart as they are good friends.

Now neighbours in Hertfordshire, the pair are in regular contact and

Pochettino (right) told how they met a year ago while at a conference Bilbao.

He said: “He asked me about

England and of course I advised him, ‘Yes if you have the possibility to come, sure you are going to be right’.” Pochettino was aware Emery had been appointed Arsenal manager before it was made public, adding: “I knew, but not through him.”

Asked if he would have been quite so welcoming had he known Emery would join Spurs’ bitter rivals, Pochettino laughed and said: “Yes, but he’s clever enough not to tell me until he signs. He knows football very well.”

Their friendship dates back to their time as managers in Spain. Emery was so impressed with a young Pochettino that when he left Valencia for Spartak Moscow in 2012 he told the Spanish club Pochettino should replace him.

“The Valencia chairman called me and said, ‘I want you in Valencia’,” explained Pochettino, who was then in charge at Espanyol. “He said, ‘Unai Emery advised me and told me to pick you, you are the best manager. I said no, I chose to stay at Espanyol and then I called Unai who was at Spartak Moscow and said, ‘Thank you very much for recommending me’. “You need to ask him why he picked me.

“You need to say thank you and be grateful when a colleague – and afterwards someone who became a very good friend – does that. It’s not usual a manager recommends another manager when he leaves the club.”

Pochettino never shared a post-derby drink with Arsene Wenger and that will not change with Emery in charge at the Emirates despite them being such good pals as it is not a Spanish tradition.

But if he is toasting a victory at full-time he reckons it might just make it his best few days in management. He said: “We beat Chelsea and Inter, it’s a fantastic week and beating Arsenal would be amazing of course.” The greatest week?

“Yes, maybe, yes.”