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They flew back to London on Sunday morning already plotting the next stage of their resurgence.

Far from being at odds with manager Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had been moving for big players with big price-tags even before Saturday night’s Champions League Final heartbreak.

There is a will at the club to back the mercurial Argentinean to finish the work he has started in north London.

Spurs, remember, had been through seven full-time managers in 10 years before Pochettino’s arrival. They’d been flaky, inconsistent, unreliable.

On landing Pochettino from Southampton five years ago, Levy declared: “He has a proven ability to develop each player as an individual, whilst building great team spirit and a winning mentality.”

Winning is the final step for a sleeping giant now wide awake under one of the most talented managers in Europe.

(Image: Getty)

Captain Hugo Lloris is well placed to put Saturday’s defeat to Liverpool into perspective. He’d considered his future at the club on at least two occasions before Pochettino rocked up.

Now, just as Jurgen Klopp's Reds used their anguish from losing this same fixture 12 months ago to inspire their triumphant return, Lloris believes Spurs can do the same.

“It is difficult to compare both projects,” said the World Cup 2018-winning French goalkeeper. “There is one club who sets out to win every competition in which they play... and that is not the case with Tottenham.

“We work and try to stick with the philosophy of the board, manager and the club. We look to improve every season and we have shown improvements year after year. So we now cannot throw everything in the bin after a Champions League Final defeat. It’s been a big step for the club and the only thing we can look to do is come back stronger next season.”

Lloris moved to Spurs from Lyon in 2012 but, after the sackings of Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood, feared for the direction of the club.

(Image: Getty)

Amid a run of five seasons in a row of Europa League football, it was Pochettino who convinced his goalkeeper to persevere — and his words were almost spectacularly vindicated on Saturday night.

The Spurs boss is now set to break up this squad to add fresh blood and a new impetus ahead of next season after back-to-back windows with no arrivals.

Asked whether he’d back an overhaul, Lloris said: “That decision belongs to the gaffer and the board. I am just a player. The only thing I can say is that getting to the Champions League final was a very big and emotional thing.

“It is difficult for us to end the season in this way because you never know when you will get the opportunity to win this type of competition again.”

England captain Harry Kane kept his own counsel after the match as debate raged as to whether he should have started or not having not played since an ankle injury on April 9. Lucas Moura, the man replaced by Kane despite scored the hat-trick to see off Ajax in that epic semi-final second leg, also maintained a diplomatic silence.

(Image: Tottenham Hotspur/Getty)

Of more concern for Lloris was the lack of aggression that allowed Liverpool to see the game out too easily after Mo Salah’s penalty for a Moussa Sissoko handball with just 23 seconds gone.

“It is always painful to lose a match like this,” he said. “We were a bit too timid and woke up in the final 15 minutes. It’s a shame. We could have done with showing more pressing and aggression to have made the game harder for Liverpool. We never managed to put them under pressure and go one-v-one."

Stats showed Tottenham dominated possession (61%-39%) and had more than twice as many shots on target (8-3). Lloris only made one save, while his Liverpool counterpart Alisson had eight.

“It was a lesson in efficiency," added the Frenchman. "Maybe we had too much focus on the way to play rather than to win. They managed the game much better than us.

“It was painful for everyone. To bring Tottenham to a Champions League Final will never match the feeling of winning it. But it is a very positive thing and we have to build from that to take the club to where it wants to go.”