The two Real Madrid players Daniel Levy once demanded in swap deal for Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham

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Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is one of the toughest negotiators in the world, and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez found this out the hard way.

Very rarely do Real Madrid end up not getting someone they want. The Galacticos are the biggest football club in the world, but Levy made them turn around and walk away in 2018 when they tried to snatch then-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.

What Tottenham’s Daniel Levy demanded from Real Madrid for Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino was viewed as one of the most exciting managers in the world when he was at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Argentine did brilliantly at Spurs during his time in North London, so much so that he attracted interest from Real Madrid in 2018.

Zinedine Zidane had announced that he was stepping down then, and Florentino Perez wanted Pochettino to replace him at the Santiago Bernabeu. The then-Spurs boss was interested too.

However, since Pochettino was under contract at Tottenham, Perez had to negotiate a deal with Daniel Levy, and the Spurs chairman’s demands ended the conversation very quickly.

The Athletic claim today that when Real Madrid came calling for Pochettino, Levy demanded Marco Asensio and Mateo Kovacic in a swap deal along with £100 million.

Perez, who was keen to strike a deal, walked away.

Daniel Levy deserves some praise at Tottenham

Tottenham fans have a number of reasons to criticise Daniel Levy, and most of them are justified.

However, the 62-year-old deserves credit when it’s due, and the way he retained Mauricio Pochettino’s services in 2018 is definitely worthy of praise.

Tottenham finished fourth in the Premier League that season and made it into the final of the Champions League, which they lost to Liverpool.

Pochettino was sacked in the following campaign, but losing him back in 2018 was unimaginable for Tottenham fans.