To Liverpool’s woe, Pochettino could take Saints’ star to Spurs

When Daniel Levy sets his mind on something, then he invariably gets it. Having sacked Tim Sherwood two days after the end of the 2013/14 season, it seems the Spurs chairman has Mauricio Pochettino at the top of his list of replacements.

Levy has reportedly already contacted Southampton over the availability of their Argentine boss and as such, Ladbrokes make him the 8/13 favourite to be the next man to stalk the White Hart Lane technical area.

Should that happen, then Liverpool’s interest in Saints skipper Adam Lallana could have some serious competition from the north London club.

Although he didn’t bring any players over to Southampton from his previous stint as Espanyol boss, that doesn’t mean the 42-year-old wouldn’t return to St Mary’s with a chequebook in hand should he take the Tottenham reigns this summer.

Pochettino quickly installed an energetic, high-pressing game into Southampton’s philosophy and the move worked wonders as he followed up the 14th-placed finish he managed having taken over from Nigel Adkins, with an impressive eighth this term.

Those results have caught Levy’s eye but the worry for the Lilywhites is that few of their current crop immediately spring to mind as a good fit for Pochettino’s way of playing.

For that reason a hijacking of Liverpool’s reported pursuit of Lallana would make perfect sense as he’s well-versed in the hard-working style already and has enjoyed a far better season than many of Spurs’ current wide men.

The Brazil-bound star scored nine Premier League goals this season, a tally that far outscores the three managed by all of Spurs’ natural wingers combined.

Lallana’s six assists also make a mockery of Aaron Lennon, Nacer Chadli, Andros Townsend and Erik Lamela’s contributions, as the total falls just one short of those four men’s collective efforts.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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