REAL MADRID
Levy, the big obstacle stopping Pochettino signing with Madrid
Daniel Levy is the president of Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino has sent a warning to Real Madrid that his boss at Spurs bites.
Real Madrid have their sights set on Mauricio Pochettino after Zinedine Zidane left the club abruptly on Wednesday afternoon. The recently crowned Champions League winners have a major obstacle standing before them, however, in the form of Spurs president, Daniel Levy. There is no clause that would make Pochettino's potential move to Real Madrid more plausible and the Argentinian has sent a warning to Real Madrid's negotiators. "Be careful, Daniel Levy bites..." is how the Spurs manager put it during an interview with Cuatro.
Levy, who was born in Essex in 1969, is a graduate of the University of Cambridge where he studied Economics and came out with an honours degree too. He has been the president of the London club since 2001 when ENIC International, the sports investment company, of which he is CEO bought most of the shares after previous chairman, Alan Sugar, declared the Premier League side bankrupt.
Since the start of his reign, Levy has been cultivating his tough negotiating style. Dimitar Bernatov to United, Kevin Prince Boateng to Milan, Robbie Keane to Liverpool and Sol Campbell to Arsenal all came dangerously close to collapse due to Levy's unwillingness to budge. Real Madrid know this all too well as Luka Modric and Gareth Bale had to be pushed over the line with delicacy and diplomacy.
But Levy is not just a tough talker when selling players but he drives a hard deal when buying them too. The Olympique Lyon president, Aulus, commented that "In 25 years, I have never seen something like that," after he sold Hugo Lloris to Tottenham.
