Joaoa Palhinha has expressed his desire to remain at Tottenham but acknowledged that the final decision lies with the club's management. The 30-year-old is currently on loan from Bayern Munich, but the Europa League winners have the option to activate a £27million clause to make the move permanent next summer.
When asked about his future, Palhinha responded: "They should ask the owner, or Fabio [Paratici], or Johan [Lange], not myself! Of course, this is like a marriage. Both parts need to want [it]. But I am really happy here. I feel the support from the fans as well. When you feel this, for me it is really special. We have until the end of the season. We have a lot of things to happen. You know how it is in football. I just want to enjoy the time that I am here. Let's see what is going to happen."
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Palhinha insists that only a victory will suffice for Tottenham in the north London Derby - even if the pressure is entirely on Arsenal. The Portuguese veteran is determined to provide the resilience needed to secure Spurs' first away Premier League win over their rivals since November 2010.
Ahead of today's crucial match, Palhinha said: "I think it's a bit of a similar feeling to when we played PSG in the Super Cup because they beat everyone at that moment. They won the league, they won the Champions League, everything that they could have and when you have these teams that are in the top moment, top form, I think the pressure is probably more on their side than us.
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"I think we need to recognise their form and then their talent because if they are in the position they are in the moment then they deserve it, completely. But we know what we can do, we are really capable to give our best in that game and hopefully we can reach what we really want now, which is the victory.
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"We don't want to draw, we just want to focus on the victory because this team is together and we push each other all the time. We know it will be difficult, of course."
Spurs remain without defeat away from home in the Premier League this campaign and no top-flight club has secured more points than Thomas Frank's outfit (13) on their travels.
Palhinha is not only determined to maintain that impressive away record but is also keen to silence his doubters following recent criticism from Jamie Carragher for being "too negative" in possession. He added: "I saw it because some people sent it to me, I couldn't say that I didn't see it.
"But to be honest, about this, what can I say? I don't care what the people say. If he says bad things about [Cristiano] Ronaldo, he can speak about everyone. Some people need to speak about another to be on the screens on the TV.
"My life is not about that, definitely. It makes it a bit embarrassing seeing sometimes the ex-players speaking that the way that they speak and they look sometimes like superstars on their past, I don't have problems to say.
"I think he should have seen probably more games of me at Tottenham. I think I am doing a top season and the things that he says about me go to the back [of my mind].
"But he's not going to be the first and he's not going to be the last one, you know? The way is about how we react. And the way I react is scoring a goal, after he said this to me, against Copenhagen. I will keep showing how I can do it. I don't need to give these answers, but that's what I feel.
"I don't really care about this kind of thing. It's not important for me. I just want to keep doing my job and show what I am capable of doing because I am really proud of what I have been doing until now."