Transfer Centre

Mauricio Pochettino: 'I will not beg players to stay at Tottenham Hotspur'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior ReporterPublished: 01 September 2018 11:55 AM

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino suggests that he will not beg any wantaway players to stay at the club if they are eyeing a mid-season exit.

Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that he is "more than happy" to wave goodbye to any players who do not want to remain at Tottenham Hotspur.

A number of first-team stars were linked with a move away from North London during the transfer window, namely Mousa Dembele, Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld.

All three players still remain contracted to Spurs, however, and each has been used heavily by Pochettino during the first few weeks of the season.

Speaking on the back of a strong start to the season for the Lilywhites, which saw them win 3-0 at Manchester United last time out, Pochettino stressed that he will not stand in the way of any unhappy players once the winter window opens.

"I am not a person who is going to convince players to stay or not stay," he told reporters. "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 for me."

Tottenham have begun a top-flight season with three successive wins for only the fifth time in their history.