FOR MADRID

Latin motto is ‘Audere est Facere’ – ‘To Dare Is To Do’. Raiding the London club for Pochettino would certainly be daring.

You could also argue foolish, though, because all Pochettino has mastered since taking charge of Spurs is the art of flattering to deceive.

People keep banging on about what a great manager he is, how he’s turned Spurs into a major force and that he’s destined for greatness.

Bitter

But what has he actually won apart from plaudits?

Since taking charge in 2014, Pochettino’s greatest achievements to date are finishing second in the Premier League and reaching a League Cup final, where they lost to Chelsea.

During the same period, bitter rival Arsene Wenger has won two FA Cups – along with two Community Shields – despite constant calls from fans for him to be sacked.

He has also led Arsenal to this season’s League Cup final – and hasn’t had the benefit of having the hottest striker in Europe at his disposal in the shape of Harry Kane.

This season Spurs are fifth in the table, 20 points behind leaders Manchester City and facing a battle just to get back into the Champions League.

On Saturday they needed a late equaliser from Kane to spare them a humiliating FA Cup defeat at League Two Newport.

Proven winners haven’t lasted two minutes at the Bernabeu, where there have been six different bosses in the last decade. So why would Pochettino stand a chance?

He doesn’t have the track record to rank with the likes of Zidane or previous Real boss