THERE will be a clear No 1 priority for Mauricio Pochettino’s successor — to get Harry Kane to stay.
The England captain is as loyal as they come, ‘one of our own’ to the Spurs supporters and unswervingly faithful to both Poch and his national manager Gareth Southgate.
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Yet, next summer Kane will be 27. He is widely recognised as possibly the best striker on the planet. And he has never won a trophy.
Kane has 4½ years left on his contract — yet the length of his deal is merely a bargaining tool allowing chairman Daniel Levy to ramp up his transfer fee.
If Kane decides he wants something bigger and better next season, it will be tough for even the ball-busting Levy to keep him.
Pochettino loved Kane to a fault. He chose to start him in last season’s Champions League final against Liverpool when he was not match-fit after a lay-off of almost two months with an ankle injury.
Yet since that mood-changing night in Madrid, even Kane’s goalscoring prowess could not keep his Argentinian boss in a job.
Everyone close to Spurs knew that last season’s extraordinary European run — the draw in Barcelona, the victory over Borussia Dortmund, the insane win over Manchester City and the outrageous comeback against Ajax — was merely papering over the cracks.
Tottenham lost 20 matches last season. They hadn’t spent a penny in the previous two transfers windows and had spent almost two years in exile at Wembley.
What Pochettino achieved in securing four consecutive Champions League qualifications with a negative transfer spend was a modern-day footballing miracle.
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Yet the Argentine knew full well his players were not being paid the market rate, older players he still wanted were being pushed out of the door by Levy, and the quality of his squad had been diluted over the previous couple of years.
Even when Levy re-entered the transfer market this summer, Pochettino was not impressed. Tanguy Ndombele is a promising player but for a club-record £55million you’d want the finished article, a consistent performer.
Youngsters Ryan Sessegnon, 19, and Jack Clarke, 18, were not Pochettino signings — the former has yet to start for Spurs and the latter was loaned back to Leeds. Frustrations were made obvious when Poch insisted his job title should be downgraded from manager to ‘head coach’ due to his lack of clout over recruitment policy.
Pochettino, 47, has grown morose and sulky since Madrid — and he’s had damned good reason to be.
During five and a bit years in charge, Poch has confirmed himself as Tottenham’s second greatest boss of all time, after Bill Nicholson.
Players spoke of an extraordinary sense of energy, a workaholic who expected the same of his players. A boss who could be warm and engaging, yet utterly ruthless when a player was not performing.
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No reasons were ever given when players were dropped. Pochettino was old school.
A b******d of an Argentinian centre-half to his core.
And yet also new-age in his training techniques. No team in the Premier League had fewer days off. No team worked harder in training. And as a result Pochettino transformed Spurs from soft-touch under-achievers into consistently the best pound-for-pound team in the division.
Yet Tottenham’s form during this calendar year has been close to relegation material.
They have not won a league away match since January, they were humiliated by Colchester in the Carabao Cup and by Bayern Munich’s 7-2 Champions League win at the Lane.
Despite all that, though, sacking Pochettino is a massive gamble for Levy.
The manager remains hugely popular with supporters and retains great affection from some players — but most have become sick and tired of his increasing disaffection and his unusual sense of remoteness this season.
Levy has been good for Pochettino but not half as good as Pochettino has been for Levy.
To ensure continued Champions League football while Spurs were homeless and building their magnificent new stadium was a godsend.
Whether it is Jose Mourinho, Max Allegri or even Brendan Rodgers who takes the reins, they will have to work hard on convincing Kane his future is at Spurs.
Save for a miraculous surge up the Premier League table from 14th to the top four, that would have to mean Kane winning his first trophy this season.
Anything less and Spurs could end up losing their two leading men — Poch and Kane — in little over six months. The stakes are high. That is why Levy has felt the need to gamble.
