Mauricio Pochettino will put up fight to keep best players

Pochettino tight-lipped when asked about Hugo Lloris’s future at club

Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that he will put up a fight to keep hold of Tottenham Hotspur’s best players as he braces himself for a battle to keep Hugo Lloris at White Hart Lane this summer.

Manchester United have identified the French goalkeeper as a potential replacement for David de Gea – who is a target for Real Madrid – and with Tottenham looking increasingly unlikely to qualify for the Champions League this summer, convincing Lloris to stay could be difficult. Paris Saint-Germain have also been linked with Lloris, who signed a five-year contract last year.

Despite Pochettino’s determination to keep his team together, he admitted that he cannot make any guarantees. “In football it is difficult. Also if you sign the contract you never have the guarantee,” the Tottenham manager said. “I have a contract or a lot of managers have a contract and there is never guarantee. But in football you never know. But it is true if I want some player to stay with us I fight a lot.”

Pochettino was tight-lipped when he was asked about Lloris’s future. “I think it is a rumour,” he said. “I do not have any comment. I do not want to speak about rumours, about Hugo or other players. We are focused and we try to finish the season as best as possible. That rumour is impossible to stop.”

Pochettino would also not be drawn on a potential move for the Southampton midfielder, Morgan Schneiderlin. “Another rumour,”he said. “It is impossible to confirm something like this. In the last few weeks, there are a lot of rumours and names in the media.”



By Jacob Steinberg / Guardian