Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed he would have considered quitting Tottenham if they had won the Champions League last season.
On the eve of the club's iconic win at Ajax in the semi-final second leg, Pochettino revealed he would 'think about doing something different' if he guided Spurs to a first European Cup.
They went on to lose 2-0 to Liverpool on June 1 to extend their wait for a trophy under Pochettino, who was repeatedly linked to Manchester United and Real Madrid last season, despite signing a five-year deal worth £8.5million per season in May 2018.
Asked if he had considered his own future over the summer, Pochettino said: "Of course it’s always in your head. You never know. With the way I am, I am always going to prioritise the club over myself. Maybe if it was a different result after the final you can think, ‘OK, maybe this is a moment to leave the club and give them the possibility of a real new chapter with a new coaching staff.'
"But after the final I felt this was not great to finish like this. I’m not a person that avoids facing problems or a difficult situation. I am more on the [other] side: I love a massive challenge and of course now [we must] rebuild that mentality to make it possible to repeat a similar season. That is exciting and motivates me a lot."
Asked if his decision would have been different had Spurs won, Pochettino continued: "For sure, for sure. When you touch the glory, you behave and feel differently, the players feel different and the challenge becomes different."
Told that many managers would see winning the Champions League as an opportunity to build, he added: "I know Tottenham and Tottenham is not the same as other clubs and myself and the coaching staff are not the same as other coaching staffs. No better, no worse – we are different. But I agree, that is a normal mindset."
Pochettino was reluctant to comment on Christian Eriksen's future after the playmaker revealed he would like to 'try something new' in the wake of the defeat in Madrid.
Eriksen, who has one year remaining on his contract, trained alone in Singapore this morning as Spurs prepared for Sunday's friendly against Juventus and Pochettino said the Dane had been given the chance to remain in London after undergoing a 'small procedure' following the final.
"It's difficult for me to talk about the comments of the player," Pochettino said. "I wasn't there and, to be honest, during my holidays I didn't want to see the media.
"Christian had minor surgery after the final, similar to Ben Davies, and that is why today rather than training with the group, [he was] training alone.
"We gave him the option to stay in London but he wanted to come because the medical staff decided that he can be available to play maybe, so he is here. It was his decision with the club and medical staff. It was a small procedure but now he's ok."
Pochettino has added to his squad with club-record £65million signing Tanguy Ndombele and Jack Clarke, who has returned to Leeds on a season-long loan, but Kieran Trippier has joined Atletico Madrid.
Spurs still hope to complete a number of signings and sales before the end of the transfer window, with Danny Rose among the players to remain in London in the hope of finding a new club.
Pochettino added: "I told Daniel during the flight from London that I will be happy with the squad that you are going to provide me to work with. I'm always happy. I'm a happy man, working with 25 players, always.
"It was Kieran’s decision [to leave]. He communicated the day before we travelled here and he told me that he accept an offer from Atletico Madrid and it was the club who communicated with me that they had agreed a deal, I wasn’t involved in this discussion in the last week."
Pochettino could be without captain Hugo Lloris against Juve after the goalkeeper was struck down with tonsillitis.
