Football
Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham Correspondent 7y

Jan Vertonghen feared Man United would get Mauricio Pochettino

LONDON -- Tottenham Hotspur's players feared they would lose manager Mauricio Pochettino to Manchester United last season, according to defender Jan Vertonghen.

Pochettino was mooted as a replacement for Louis van Gaal and the speculation increased when he had lunch with United director and former manager Sir Alex Ferguson in May.

But the Spurs manager signed a five-year contract in the same month and United appointed Jose Mourinho after sacking Van Gaal in the summer. 

Asked if the players were worried about Pochettino's future, Vertonghen said: "Yes -- when the rumours were getting bigger we were always worried, especially with this manager.

"If I was Man United, I would have tried to take him from us, especially when you see what he can do to a team. The team is very happy he stayed. He signed a long-term deal like so many of the players and it is good to have that stability in the club."

Pochettino will face Mourinho in Sunday's crunch Premier League match at Old Trafford and Vertonghen has insisted that Spurs will not be affected by any mind games from the Portuguese coach.

"He is a good manager ... he says things in the media but it doesn't really affect us. It's part of the job and he plays it the way he wants to," the Belgian added.

"He is a great coach first of all, done great things with different teams. He has shown he is a very good coach and a colourful character, but football needs that."

Asked if he would play for Mourinho, Vertonghen said: "He's not my manager so I'm not going to talk about this."

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