• ‘It’s like another woman is looking at you,’ says Spurs manager • Spurs close to becoming ‘one of the best clubs in the world’

Mauricio Pochettino has played down links with the vacant Real Madrid job, by comparing them to the glance of an admiring woman.

The Tottenham Hotspur manager has developed a taste for colourful metaphors this season, having previously compared his side’s experience in the Champions League to that of a cow waiting for a train. Now, after another turbulent 10 days for the club, he used a romantic image to suggest the latest gossip should be cause for confidence in his squad.

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“It is like you are with your girlfriend or wife and you are holding hands, walking down Oxford Street,” he said. “But because you are so handsome, another woman is looking at you. But your wife is so proud and, rather than worrying, she is so happy to be with you and falls more in love with you.”

The wife in this situation refers to the Tottenham squad in general and Dele Alli in particular. The midfielder signed a new six-year contract this week and said working with Pochettino had been a “massive” factor in his decision to renew. The manager acknowledged that his players trust he will continue at Spurs but warned that their allegiance must be first and foremost to the club.

“Yes the players are confident in me,” Pochettino said. “But it is not that they attach to me only. If I believe that Dele is only going to sign a new contract because of me it’s a bad feeling. I think the club needs to always be above the manager and the players. The player must say I sign because I want to play for Tottenham. Otherwise it’s difficult to achieve big things.”

Spurs bounced back after bad results against PSV Eindhoven and Manchester City to knock West Ham out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday and they play at Wolves on Saturday night sitting fifth in the table, five points off the top. But another postponement in the opening of the club’s new White Hart Lane stadium cast a cloud over events on the pitch and added fuel to this week’s rumours. Pochettino, in addressing the delays, urged patience as the project continues.

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“We are very close to creating, in terms of facilities, one of the best clubs in the world,” he said. “Of course everything comes with a cost. Sometimes to win titles today is difficult, for many reasons that you and our fans know very well. But sometimes patience is short and frustration is there. I think we are so close to reaching the last level but we need to have that patience that makes us stronger.

“When I arrived at Tottenham the first video that Daniel [Levy] showed me had a message: ‘When we are talking about Tottenham Hotspur, we are talking about the glory.’ I want to feel the glory with Tottenham. I think when I watch video from the 1960s, it’s very emotional and I think it would be fantastic to deliver that moment again for our fans. But first of all we need to finish the stadium, move in, make home.”