That’s according to Sky Sports insider Geoff Shreeves.
Speaking last week, Pochettino suggest Spurs must “operate in a different way” in order to win the Premier League, with his side currently nine points off top spot after last weekend’s loss at home to Manchester United.
The north London club opted against a single signing last summer, becoming the first club in the Premier League era not to welcome at least one acquisition in the summer window.
The Argentine’s net spend has been just £29million since 2014, with rivals United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all spending at least £100m more than them across the same period.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher recently slammed their net spend as “unacceptable” given Pochettino’s miraculous achievements – leading Spurs to three successive top-three finishes in the top flight.
And Pochettino has voiced his frustration at Spurs’ way of operating, declaring: “At the moment we operate in the same way as we operated in five years ago when we arrived.
“Of course, maybe we can win some titles but it’s going to be a tough job to do because in that situation every club in the last five years was improving a lot.
“The other day I saw a stat that in the last 10 years in England and in Europe how the teams were spending money, and I think we were on the bottom, in England and Europe.
“Of course we’re doing a fantastic job but if we want to be real contenders we need to operate in a different way in the future.”
That has led to suggestions either United or Real Madrid could pinch the 46-year-old away from the English capital with Spurs’ league rivals having appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer only as interim manager until the end of the season after sacking Jose Mourinho in December.
Santiago Solari, meanwhile, has had mixed success at the Bernabeu since being given the full-time job after a fruitful temporary spell and Madrid could also be on the look-out for a new boss.
Yet Pochettino has also declared his desire to remain in charge at Spurs for 20 years and potentially even end his career as a tactician there – with Shreeves insisting he expects him to stay.
Speaking on The Debate on Sky Sports, reporter and presenter Shreeves said: “Tottenham and his position have been discussed a lot. Tottenham fans are irate at the thought of him leaving.
“Having sat down and spoke to Pochettino myself, I think what he’s saying is, ‘Look, I want to stay, this is the club for me.’
“But because he wants the best for the club he’s saying, ‘We do need to change the way we operate.’
“He’s not saying to Daniel Levy, ‘My way or highway!’
“He’s saying, ‘Come on Daniel, we’ve worked together, we need to go to the next level.’”