LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino has described Daniel Levy as the most important person at Tottenham, and says no one is working harder than the chairman to turn the club into a superpower.
Levy has a reputation as a fierce negotiator -- who can also be infuriating to deal with -- and his rigid wage structure is currently under scrutiny amid reports that Kyle Walker has decided his future lies away from White Hart Lane.
Manchester City and Manchester United reportedly admire the England right-back and both could double his £70,000-a-week wages. Harry Redknapp, Levy's most successful manager before Pochettino, has said Spurs must pay their players more or risk losing them.
Levy clashed with Redknapp and his successor Andre Villas-Boas over money, but Pochettino says they work in harmony and claims the chairman is responsible for Spurs' success since he joined as manager three years ago.
"Daniel is the first person interested when it's all going well and when it's not going well he's the first person to try to find solutions because he's the most important person at the club," Pochettino said. "If we are not doing well and the results are not good, then maybe Daniel will not be happy and will be tired with my face and say 'go home!' But I understand.
"Daniel deserves a lot of credit. His support is massive to myself and it's a good thing to recognise when the chairman cares about you, shares ideas and tries to be involved every day. The good thing at Tottenham is that all decisions are club decisions -- not Mauricio Pochettino's decision or Daniel Levy's decision. We share all decisions and that's so important to success in football.
"That's why I want to recognise all his support, he is 24 hours caring for the club, fans, trying to improve the team, the facilities, create new stadium because all he is doing is for the staff, the players, the fans.
"He is the first who is creating a massive club for us and the fans because he is thinking to move in the next few years the club into the last level. And then of course in our signings we are creating a new team that in the new stadium and with the new facilities Tottenham will be one of the best teams in the world. He deserves the praise. It's not a gift."
Pochettino insisted that the public perception of Levy as a hard-nosed businessman was quite true but he revealed a softer side to the media-shy chairman, who is reluctant to speak publicly or give interviews.
"The perception is real. He is so tough, he is hard. He is a chairman and it's not easy to manage this size of club. If you are a soft person, it would be so difficult to manage, so difficult to succeed," Pochettino said.
"We spend a lot of time talking. We spend time together. I am happy to see another side to him -- he is very human, he is sensitive. He is so clever. He is funny, too. It's true. It's not a rumour, it's my reality! This is how I know him.
"It's his way, how he is, how he likes to manage his club -- he's so shy and he doesn't like too much to appear in the media. He's been at Tottenham for 16 years and it's his decision. The perception is normal, but when you see the other side, he's a very close person."
By way of example, Pochettino revealed that Levy had waited two days after Tottenham's 5-1 humiliation at Newcastle on the final day of last season before getting in touch.
"His reaction was so supportive. It was very good. And when the people behave in this way, it's always important to recognise it. It's easy for him to blame me or the team, but he was very supportive.
"He is my boss, it was difficult. I know him and he knows me, too. I was so upset and he gaves me a few days -- no messages, no calls -- and then he came, face-to-face, and we could speak. And we could talk about what had happened.
"He was supportive. He said to me, 'I know very well that you are so upset.' And that is why I don't want to disturb you. But now we can speak because now, after two days, we are a little bit more relaxed. It was good."