Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino will not try to “convince” his players to stay if they want to leave the club.
A number of high-profile Spurs players were expected to leave north London this summer with Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembele and Danny Rose all the subject of intense interest from clubs across the continent.
Despite this, all three started in the 3-0 mauling of Manchester United on Monday night, but Pochettino was quick to remind them that if they want to leave, he will not hold them to ransom.
Dembele is currently in the final year of his contract, while a loan move to the Bundesliga was gaining serious traction for Rose towards the end of the European window, and Alderweireld has a release clause in his contract.
Pochettino has remained insistent that he cannot guarantee the players long-term assurances, and has opened the door for them to leave White Hart Lane should they choose.
“I am not a person who is going to convince players to stay or not stay,” said Pochettino (via the Telegraph). “If they want to leave, they want to leave. The players who don’t want to stay can leave. I’m not going to convince people to stay who don’t want to.
“It’s not a problem if we lose one or two or three. Because we have plenty of players in the academy, no problem. I am more than happy to keep all the players and I am more than happy if they leave, and we play with the under-23s. It’s not a problem, I promise you. Not a problem for me.”
Spurs have made the perfect start to the season, despite not signing a single player over the summer, winning three matches out of three, including the aforementioned humbling of Man Utd.
They take on Watford next, another team to have won their opening three matches, and Pochettino has told his players that they must remain focused throughout the match otherwise they will be punished.
He added: “We’re going to play on Sunday against a very good team – a team that’s going to fight and is in a very good moment because after three games they’re over the moon,” said Pochettino, who is without goalkeeper Hugo Lloris because of a thigh injury. “Of course, if we’re not ready and we believe because we beat Manchester United 3-0 that all is fantastic, I think we are going to crash.
“When you’ve beaten Manchester United 3-0 in Old Trafford, a historic victory, it’s easy to say our performance was fantastic and they were not so good. But when you watch again I think the line was very thin, to be in the left or right, in the positive or negative.
“In the last three games we’ve conceded a lot of chances. Our keeper made an unbelievable save to keep the team alive. Of course after we scored we showed character and many positive things, but come on. If we want to fight and be a contender, we need to talk on the pitch and not outside. We need to show we are capable after 10 months, not only after three games.”
Spurs travel to Vicarage Road today looking to keep up with Liverpool and Manchester City, who both won on Saturday.
The post Mauricio Pochettino says Spurs players are free to leave if they want appeared first on Squawka News.
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