Pochettino every right to say no to Tottenham’s pay cut request

Tottenham have asked former manager Mauricio Pochettino, who is still making £8.5 million almost six months after his dismissal, to take a pay cut to help ease the club’s current financial burden. 

It’s an uncomfortable request from Daniel Levy, who sacked Pochettino in November after a poor run of form to start the 2019-20 campaign. Given the current financial climate, you can understand why Pochettino is being asked to take a pay cut on his rather handsome severance package, but the Argentine would also be forgiven for not wanting to comply.

Sacked in particularly unceremonious circumstances, Pochettino was shown the door while, within 24 hours, Jose Mourinho entered the fray, commandeering the Argentine’s office. After devoting his entire life to Spurs, and Levy, Pochettino was thrown to the curb, with ruthlessness and reckless abandon.

And now the club wants him to take a pay cut.

As far as we know, most Tottenham players are yet to take pay cuts of any kind. Many are, of course, donating funds to the NHS via the recently created PlayersTogether initiative. But donating funds to a worthwhile cause is entirely different than taking a pay cut. There are various other reasons players are resistant to pay cuts, the foremost being that salary reductions would actually hamper the NHS.

So you can imagine the reservations Pochettino will have about taking a pay cut. Though I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pochettino, being the selfless, humble and upstanding person he is, sacrifice a portion of his own wealth for the club he still loves.

Many would scoff at the idea of helping a club who turned its back on the man responsible for their rise to prominence. But not Pochettino.

Then again, he hasn’t said yes to Levy’s uncomfortable request quite yet. And I wouldn’t be upset if he did.