Around the Bernabeu, there is now an increasing expectation that there will be a manager change by the summer - and it is not just down to dismal recent results. Some close to Zinedine Zidane feel he will want a break. Either way, it has naturally led to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez looking at alternatives, and looking more intently at Mauricio Pochettino. He has become by far their first choice.

While Pochettino last week first re-iterated his “massive” commitment to Spurs amid all these reports, he then added an ambiguity by using the Cristiano Ronaldo classic of “you never know in football”. There is something else in all of this, though, that is ambiguous and hard to know. Would it actually be the best choice for the Argentine to go to the Bernabeu, at this point of his career?

The standard thinking applied to anyone as ambitious as Pochettino is that you can’t turn down a job like Real when they come calling, and there is also no doubt that he is similarly “ready” for such a job. That is not the issue. It clearly wouldn’t be a case of Manchester United and David Moyes, who seemed so visibly overawed by the role, and would often ask for advice on what he should say at every press conference. One story has it that the Scot was told to use a specific word about one mildly contentious issue, didn’t like it and said he wouldn’t… only to then use the word over 15 times in front of the media.

Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Show all 13 1 /13 Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Real Madrid 2 Sporting Lisbon 1 – Group stage, 14/9/16 MADRID, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 14: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid CF celebrates scoring their opening goal during the UEFA Champions League group stage match between Real Madrid CF and Sporting Clube de Portugal at Santiago Bernabeu stadium on September 14, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images) Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Borussia Dortmund 2 Real Madrid 2 – Group stage, 27/9/16 Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (L) celebrates after his goal during the UEFA Champions League first leg football match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at BVB stadium in Dortmund, on September 27, 2016. / AFP / PATRIK STOLLARZ (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Real Madrid 5 Legia Warsaw 1 – Group stage, 18/10/16 Real Madrid's Welsh forward Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring during the UEFA Champions League football match Real Madrid CF vs Legia Legia Warszawa at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on October 18, 2016. / AFP / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Legia Warsaw 3 Real Madrid 3 – Group stage, 2/11/16 Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic (C) is pressured by Legia Warsaw's Belgian midfielder Vadis Odjidja (R) and Legia Warsaw's defender Jakub Rzezniczak during the UEFA Champions League group F football match Legia Warsaw vs Real Madrid CF in Warsaw, Poland on November 2, 2016. / AFP / ODD ANDERSEN (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Sporting Lisbon 1 Real Madrid 2 – Group stage, 22/11/16 Real Madrid's defender Raphael Varane (C) kicks the ball to score the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League football match Sporting CP vs Real Madrid CF at the Jose Alvalade stadium in Lisbon on November 22, 2016. / AFP / FRANCISCO LEONG (Photo credit should read FRANCISCO LEONG/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Real Madrid 2 Borussia Dortmund 2 – Group stage, 7/12/16 MADRID, SPAIN - DECEMBER 07: Karim Benzema of Real Madrid (C) scores his sides second goal with his head during the UEFA Champions League Group F match between Real Madrid CF and Borussia Dortmund at the Bernabeu on December 7, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images) Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Real Madrid 3 Napoli 1 – Round of 16 first leg, 15/2/17 Real Madrid's French forward Karim Benzema (R) celebrates a goal during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg football match Real Madrid CF vs SSC Napoli at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on February 15, 2017. / AFP / JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Napoli 1 Real Madrid 3 – Round of 16 second leg, 7/3/17 TOPSHOT - Real Madrid's defender Sergio Ramos (C) scores during the UEFA Champions League football match SSC Napoli vs Real Madrid on March 7, 2017 at the San Paolo stadium in Naples. / AFP PHOTO / Alberto PIZZOLI (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Bayern Munich 1 Real Madrid 2 – Quarter-final first leg, 12/4/17 MUNICH, GERMANY - APRIL 12: Cristiano Ronaldo #7 of Real Madrid celebrates after he scores his team's 2nd goal during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final first leg match between FC Bayern Muenchen and Real Madrid CF at Allianz Arena on April 12, 2017 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Bongarts/Getty Images) Bongarts/Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Real Madrid 4 Bayern Munich 2 – Quarter-final second leg, 18/4/17 Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg football match Real Madrid vs FC Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid in Madrid on April 18, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Real Madrid 3 Atletico Madrid 0 – Semi-final first leg, 2/5/17 MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 02: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid (C) scores their second goal during the UEFA Champions League semi final first leg match between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 2, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images) Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Atletico Madrid 2 Real Madrid 1 – Semi-final second leg, 10/5/17 MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 10: Isco (R) of Real Madrid celebrates scoring his team's opening goal with Cristiano Ronaldo during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final second leg match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid CF at Vicente Calderon Stadium on May 10, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) Getty Images Real Madrid's route to Champions League winners Juventus 1 Real Madrid 4 - Final, 3/6/17 Getty

Moyes mercifully looks so much more assured now as he does very well with West Ham United, but then Pochettino always looks assured. With the way he speaks at Spurs and in general, it clearly wouldn’t take him long to feel completely comfortable at the Bernabeu, but then time itself is always one big issue at Real.

They are the most famous example of a club where a manager can suddenly lose his job for not winning enough games in too short a period of time. That would be an issue for any manager, but could particularly be one for Pochettino and the intensive and immersive way he works.

He places huge physical and tactical demands on his players, an approach that initially works best with a younger more malleable players rather than a group of established megastars. They can take longer to convince, and it can thereby take longer to see the proper effect of his management at such a club. The danger is just that a club like Real can too easily lose patience in the meantime.

But that also touches on the deeper reason it might not be right for Pochettino to go to the Bernabeu just yet. He has worked long and hard to build Tottenham Hotspur up, and we’ve seen some fine effects including their best league finish in 44 years, but there’s still the feeling they haven’t the best is yet to come. So many of his best players aren’t even close to their prime yet, and Pochettino has himself spoken of the excitement at what is possible as they further develop together.

And this should be the issue. If there was a sense that Pochettino had hit a ceiling at Spurs, one just built into the structure of their club and leading to increasing frustration, you could understand him wanting to leave. He hasn’t yet come close to that, though, and has instead just kept breaking boundaries and barriers and suggesting even more might be possible. It’s not even about the commonly brought-up issue of trophies but the potential for further transcending what Spurs are supposed to be; to really touch proper triumph. That is even before they get to the new stadium, and we all get to the financial effects of that stadium.

There is the danger that Pochettino could be giving that up way before time, having spent so much time on it, and that for a club whose hierarchy don’t inherently offer anywhere near the same consideration to coaches.

Mauricio Pochettino was furious his side failed to beat Newport (Getty)

Were Pochettino to go this summer, say, it isn’t inconceivable that one bad run of results mostly out of his control could then see him out of a job, and all that hard work at Spurs left unfulfilled. He could be left wondering whether there was something much more wondrous possible.

The crux is this: If Pochettino continues his work at Spurs, a job like Real will always be there.

If he leaves Spurs, though, it is highly doubtful he would ever be able to recreate the same feeling; the same potential; the same sense of going somewhere and doing something very different.