Levy to hold Man Utd to ransom for Pochettino by upping compensation demand
United prepared to pay £40million to buy out Pochettino and backroom team's contracts but with no release clause in place Tottenham chairman Levy ready to play hardball
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DANIEL LEVY is ready to hold Manchester United to ransom if they want to snatch Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the season.
United have earmarked Pochettino as their number one target to become their new manager after sacking Jose Mourinho this week.
Ed Woodward has set his sights on the Spurs boss and is prepared to stump up £40million in compensation to take the Argentinian and his backroom staff to Old Trafford.
But the claim Tottenham chairman Levy has no intention in letting his manager leave so cheaply - and will demand far more than that before allowing United to strike a deal.
United's plan is to pay off the outstanding contract value of the five-year deal Pochettino signed with Spurs earlier this year.
That cost would be around £34m, with a further £6m needed to release the remainder of his coaching staff from their agreements.
But there is no actual release clause in Pochettino's contract - and Levy believes that makes it impossible for Woodward and the Old Trafford board to just buy him out.
Instead he is adamant if United want to tempt the 46-year-old to the North-West, they will have to agree a transfer fee in the same way the would to sign a player.
Tottenham's view is that players are regularly sold for far more than the actual coast of their existing contract - and that the situation should be no different just because Pochettino is a manager.
That leaves United now having to consider the prospect of having to fork out far more than they originally thought if they really want to appoint the Spurs boss.
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Levy has a reputation as a notoriously hard negotiator, something United have twice found to their cost when they signed Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov.
On both occasions the businessman refused to be bullied into accepting a smaller fee, despite it being clear the players were keen to make the switch to Old Trafford.
And though Pochettino is understood to be interested in the opportunity to take the United job, that will not be enough to force Levy into caving in easily.
Spurs are, though, preparing for the possibility they could lose their manager by looking at how they would target to replace him - with Bournemouth's Eddie Howe top of their list.