Hugo Lloris hails Mauricio Pochettino friendship in reflection on Tottenham managers

Hugo Lloris has described his bond with former manager Mauricio Pochettino as a “friendly relationship” that “went beyond the world of football”.

The Argentine created a Tottenham team largely built on developing young talent alongside some of the established first-team players already at the club when he replaced Tim Sherwood in the summer of 2014.

Under his stewardship, Spurs enjoyed one of the best periods in their history, consistently challenging for the Premier League title as well as reaching the Champions League final.

While the wheels came off months after losing to Liverpool in Madrid when Pochettino was sacked in November 2019, the current Paris Saint-Germain manager remains a hugely popular figure.

Indeed, prior to PSG’s round-of-16 loss to Real Madrid earlier this month, the 50-year-old described the club as “special” after he was strongly linked with a return when Jose Mourinho was sacked towards the end of last season.

Speaking to French radio station Europe 1, Lloris reflected on his time at Spurs under a number of different coaches.

“I’ve learnt from all [my managers],” he said.

“I’ve built myself as a player, but also as a man through these men and managers. At Tottenham, I had the Andre Villas-Boas experience. Then I had a very short experience with Tim Sherwood.

“Especially, I had this experience with Mauricio Pochettino. For me, that went beyond the world of football, there’s a friendly relationship that was created.

“Even if we knew the majority of things, I learnt a lot by their sides. There’s also been Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte now. There’s a lot to learn from them.”

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