Pochettino to visit family ‘hero’ Mason in hospital

Tottenham manager Maurico Pochettino is to visit Hull midfielder Ryan Mason in hospital because the former Spurs player remains a very special person to the Argentinian manager.

Mason, whom Pochettino sold to Hull for a reported £13million (15.3m, $16.3) just prior to the beginning of this season, fractured his skull in a horrific clash of heads with Chelsea’s Gary Cahill last Sunday.

According to his club, he is making “excellent progress”.

Pochettino, who was in Barcelona with the Spurs players when the incident took place, said 25-year-old Mason was a hero in his own household.

“Yes, a little bit, I cannot lie,” replied Pochettino, who along with the players sent Mason a video.

“I cannot keep a secret. He is special. I feel when he took the decision to move to Hull it was a very tough moment for me.”

Mason, capped once by England, had a series of injuries as he progressed through the ranks at Spurs but under Pochettino’s watchful eye he developed into a first-team player.

“He is a special player for us and to me personally, he grew up here at Tottenham, he is a person that we love,” he said.

“We have kept in touch with his family and his fiancee. We were very worried about the action and like all of the people that know him, it was hard and it was difficult.

“The good thing now is he is recovering well and has made a lot of progress, we will go after the press conference to visit him and see how he is doing.”