‘Devastated’ manager tried to sign Astori at Southampton

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed how he tried to sign Davide Astori for Southampton and has paid tribute to the central defender who died at the weekend, aged 31.

There will be a minute’s silence for the Fiorentina captain before Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League last-16 second-leg tie against Juventus tonight. Tottenham manager Pochettino said: “I want to send all my condolences to Davide Astori and all the people who love him, and I think it’s a massive tragedy.

“I had the possibility to meet him five years ago because it was my idea to sign him when we were at Southampton. I took three hours out to have lunch with him and he was a great person, a great professional and a great player. We were devastated to hear about it and we share the pain with all the people in Italy and Florence and I send my energy to his family.”

Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris added: “We’ve been very affected by this tragic news. It’s not only Italian football, it’s the world of football that is affected. It’s important in this moment to show solidarity and I think all our thoughts go to the family and friends of Astori.”

Pochettino had to cope with the death of a player, Daniel Jarque, while in charge of Espanyol. Jarque, 26, suffered a heart attack. “It repeated everything in my mind with what happened with Dani when I was manager of Espanyol,” said Pochettino. “It’s impossible to take away that pain. It’s so difficult to understand what happens.”