Mauricio Pochettino takes swipe at rivals Chelsea with 'happy family' comment

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 15 January 2017

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino claims that his side are now 'like a happy family', in contrast to Chelsea whose star player reportedly wants to leave.

Mauricio Pochettino has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Premier League title rivals Chelsea by claiming that Tottenham Hotspur are now like a 'happy family'.

The comments were made in reference to reports linking the Blues' star striker Diego Costa with a move to the Chinese Super League following an apparent training-ground row with a backroom staff member.

Pochettino insists that there are no such problems at Tottenham, having seen his side win seven games in a row overall, but the Spurs boss warns that jumping ship for the Far East riches is not a wise choice should any of his players ever feel tempted.

"To be together and every player happy and part of our Tottenham family, I think we have a very good atmosphere around the club," he told reporters. "Our supporters are amazing and I think this is a very good mix between the club, the supporters, the players, the staff.

"I think it's amazing day by day how we feel, how we live on the training ground. That is the important thing in the end to try to win big things, to fight.

"Have there been any offers from China for my players? No. My reaction to the Costa story was indifference because, luckily, it is not my problem. What can you do when an offer like this arrives from a country that is like this? It's crazy money. It looks like they broke the market. If the offer to Costa is true, it's unbelievable, unbelievable. But we will see what happens."

Tottenham, who now trail leaders Chelsea by five points at the summit, return to league action next weekend with a trip to take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.