Tottenham Hotspur can breathe a little easier knowing Real Madrid are focused elsewhere.
Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino was forced to reject another round of speculation about his future earlier this month.
Real Madrid were said to be desperate to hire him as replacement for Zinedine Zidane, with a reported £15 million per year pay day on offer, The Express claimed.
Real hired Santiago Solari as interim manager last month, and just over the weekend it was reported that Tottenham were fearful the Spanish giants will come back for Pochettino next summer, The Mail report.
Now this appears to be off the table, with Real Madrid announcing an extension for Solari.
SkySports report Solari now has a contract at Real until 2021 after impressing in his short stint in charge so far.
Leaving Spurs mid-season would never have been an option, so Madrid’s supposed short term plans offered a pathway to getting Pochettino next year, and this could have become a major distraction in the second half of the season.
This could have derailed Tottenham’s campaign at a crucial time.
Now with Real Madrid, nothing is ever simple, and Solari must continue to prove himself.
Yet they are invested now in helping the Argentine be a success, and hope he can be their own Pochettino.
He will argue he needs a couple of transfer windows to really prove himself.
Tottenham can breathe a little easier after Real’s announcement. Perhaps it is delaying the inevitable and Pochettino can one day end up there, but for now he is not their priority, and Solari has a chance to prove they do not need him.
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