Mauricio Pochettino says he knew what he was signing up for when he joined Tottenham in 2014 – a programme of transfer market austerity and a drive to finance the club’s new £850m stadium. The imperative to get results remained absolute and the manager admits there have been times when he has felt the pressure.
Pochettino has spent a net £40.25m on permanent transfer deals across eight windows and he has watched the money he has helped to generate – principally, from two Champions League qualifications – go towards the stadium project. It has been tough to see rival big six clubs pour their profits into squad strengthening and Pochettino has often argued that comparisons between them and Tottenham are unfair.
“We realised how difficult it was and how the process of moving from one stadium to another would be but we went through [with it],” he said. “I feel the responsibility to manage a club and a company – where you need results to be sure that the income will be at a level to start a process to build a new stadium and, also, to attract players and play Champions League.
“People say: ‘Oh, Tottenham need to win a title,’ but for me, our process is more than winning a title. The broadcasters give massive money to City, United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool and for them, it goes to investing [in new players]. For us, it is to build the project so that one day, we have the capacity to do the same or to change the philosophy.
“I looked at Liverpool’s budget, because we played them last Sunday, and they invest double than us. But this is not the time, after three years and nine months at the club, that we invest. We don’t do anything crazy and we keep improving.”
