Spurs to ward off Real with £8.5m Pochettino offer
Club hope stars will stay if coach signs new deal Lloris hails ‘personality’ of Alli after Chelsea goals
Tottenham Hotspur are optimistic that Mauricio Pochettino will sign a new contract that would make him one of the best-paid managers in the Premier League and that he will be joined by a host of the club’s top players.
Pochettino, Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Jan Vertonghen, Hugo Lloris, Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen are all expected to recommit themselves to the club in the coming months.
Spurs took a huge step towards qualifying for the Champions League for the third successive season with a 3-1 victory over Chelsea and still have an FA Cup semi-final date against Manchester United to look forward to.
Chelsea, Paris St-germain and Real Madrid are all admirers of Pochettino, but the belief around Tottenham is that the Argentine will sign a new contract worth around £8.5million a year, as long as Real do not make a big move.
That would represent a £3 million increase on his current salary and place Pochettino fourth in the list of the Premier League’s highest-paid managers – behind Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, although Conte is expected to leave Chelsea this summer.
Pochettino signed his last Tottenham contract, worth £5.5 million a year, in May 2016 and the club are ready to reward him for two more years of progression – including the club’s first victory at Stamford Bridge since 1990.
Apart from wanting to be sure his best players will stay, Pochettino will also want assurances the club can perform better in the transfer market and he has already vetoed the search for a new sporting director to retain his control over signings.
Pochettino has proposed a number of summer targets, including Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, and has been backed over the way in which he is dealing with Toby Alderweireld’s contract stand-off.
Alderweireld was left out of the squad for the trip to Chelsea, despite having been declared fit and played for Belgium, but Tottenham are fully supportive of Pochettino’s approach – even if it could weaken their negotiating position over the defender, who is expected to be sold.
Spurs believe they can satisfy Pochettino’s ambition and that he will lead the club into the new stadium, along with their biggest stars.
Contract offers are in the pipeline for Alli, Kane, Vertonghen, Lloris, Eriksen and Son in a bid to prevent any of Europe’s top clubs attempting to prise them away.
Tottenham will also offer Mousa Dembele a new deal, but the Belgian
The belief is that the Argentine will sign a new contract, as long as Real do not make a move
has cast doubt over his future by revealing he will wait until after the World Cup before entering into negotiations.
There is, however, confidence that Alli, Kane, Vertonghen, Eriksen, Son and Lloris will sign contracts and the goalkeeper has suggested he sees his long-term future at Tottenham, by claiming that “something big” is around the corner.
“As you know, it is the most competitive league in the world and there are a lot of great teams and we’ve reduced the gap to them and that is the main thing,” said Lloris. “Now we are ready to compete against them and we will carry on because Tottenham have to stay at this level at least.
“Obviously, with the new stadium, something big is waiting for us and we cannot see this future without the Champions League, so beating Chelsea was a good answer, a collective answer and we will keep working hard and, believe me, with the manager we have got – he will be behind us.”
Lloris believes that ending their Stamford Bridge hoodoo represents more proof that Tottenham are heading in the right direction and praised Alli for answering his doubters with two goals.
“I think we deserve that – the manager, the players, the club and the fans,” said Lloris. “I think it has been a few years now where we have worked together and we’ve improved a lot to try to put the club in the upper level.
“It is not easy, but we work hard every day and, with a good philosophy and good energy, I think it makes sense when you see Tottenham play. We will carry on in the same way, but it is a good feeling to win at Stamford Bridge.”
On Alli, who did not start either of England’s friendlies against Holland and Italy, Lloris added: “Of course, I don’t know what happened in the national team, so I cannot talk about that. But obviously he didn’t play and I think he came back to training with a big willingness to show his quality and I think he is ready to finish this season strong, as are all his teammates.
“He is still young, but he has a big personality and showed it. I mean, to react in that way is fantastic for him. To show everyone how he is and he will keep working hard, as he is used to, because around him he has got the right people – the manager and his teammates – so now we need to carry on, all together, not only him.”