MY 20-YEAR SPURS DREAM

But Poch fears same sorry end as Wenger

MAURICIO POCHETTINO wants to stay at Tottenham for the next 20 years – but fears his reign could end like that of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

The Argentine’s title chasers host Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semifinal first leg tonight.

But while the Blues backed Maurizio Sarri by agreeing a £58m deal for Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic last week, Tottenham’s net spend under Pochettino is around £30m – £250m less than their London rivals.

Pochettino, constrained by the club’s £1bn new stadium, is having to punch above his weight, just like Wenger (below) did at Arsenal.

And he has plenty of sympathy for the Frenchman, given the way his 22-year spell as Gunners boss came to an end.

“All that Arsene Wenger gave for Arsenal, to finish in the way it did was a little bit unfair,” said Pochettino.

“I’d hope, if I had the opportunity to talk with him, to ask him, ‘Was it worth it?’.

“I hope, or I wish, to be here 20 years and decide to leave or to finish my career here.

Honest

“But I don’t know because, from what I saw, it was so unfair how the people treated him and talked.”

Pochettino’s comments come with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy set to fend off interest in him from Manchester United and Real Madrid this summer.

The 46-year-old insists he has taken the north Londoners to “another level” in the league in the last five years but fears the transfer market spending has not matched the club’s progress.

“I need to be honest,” he said. “I want to win the Premier League. The players, Jesus (Perez, assistant manager), want to win the Premier

League or Champions League or a trophy.

“But if we want to win titles, we need to operate in a different way. At the moment we operate in the same way as we operated five years ago when we arrived.

“Maybe we can win some titles but it’s going to be a tough job to do because every club in the last five years was improving a lot.

“I saw a stat about how teams were spending in Europe in the last 10 years and we were bottom in England and Europe.

“We are doing a fantastic job but if we want to be real contenders, we need to operate differently in the future.

“When Daniel Levy called me he was clear, him and (owner) Joe Lewis.

“They said, ‘Mauricio, you need to prepare and to help the club to arrive to the new stadium. When we finish the new stadium, in the first season on the new stadium, (we need) to have a team to finish in the top four in the season after’.

“We are in advance, no? That’s why I laugh when people say we need to win a trophy.

‘‘Look how far we are in advance. We have the ambition to win.”