Mauricio Pochettino has insisted he has no regrets over how he and Tottenham handled Kieran Trippier's departure to Atlético Madrid in the summer and that there is no bad blood between him and the player.
Trippier suggested in an interview on England duty last week that Pochettino and the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, had kept him in the dark over their intention to sell him.
“I spoke to the manager about his plans and I didn’t get a yes and I didn’t get a no,” Trippier said. “So you get the impression. It’s disappointing. I gave everything for the club and I wanted to stay. I tried to speak to the chairman. I just didn’t really get an answer.”
Pochettino’s version of events is different, although he is at pains to say that the parting was merely a part of football and there were no hard feelings from his side.
“The only conversation when he [Trippier] arrived after the summer was when he came to see me, he asked me for a meeting, and said: ‘Gaffer, I think I have a good possibility and for different reasons I would like to accept the offer from Atletico Madrid,’” Pochettino said.
“He didn’t ask me nothing. He only communicated whether the club were going to accept the offer. Nothing more. It wasn’t a conversation – Do you want me? Or don’t you want me?”
‘Good memories
' Trippier has moved to clear the air with Pochettino, asking Harry Kane to tell the manager that his words had been taken out of context, even if it is difficult to see how.
Trippier had intially texted Pochettino only for the message not to get through. Pochettino has recently changed his mobile number.
“I’ve got no problem with Kieran,” Pochettino said. “In football, decisions happen and players move from one club to another. We need to move on. The reality is one reality but who is right in all this process? I keep very good memories of him.
"We signed him from Burnley for £4m when they were relegated [from the Premier League in 2015] and he was worried about whether he would play or not. I said: 'Don't worry, we are going to provide you with the best platform to perform.'
“And one and a half years later, he was in the starting XI, he reached the national team, played the World Cup and now he’s with Atlético Madrid – when he was in the second division when we signed him.
"He played the final of the Champions League [in June] when I had plenty of different options – Serge Aurier, Davinson Sánchez, Kyle Walker-Peters. But he played the final. My actions talk more than my mouth." – Guardian
