Mauricio Pochettino Reveals the Reason Why Moussa Sissoko Stayed at Spurs This Summer

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Moussa Sissoko remains at the club simply because there was a lack of interest in the player during this year's transfer window. 

The midfielder was a club record signing last summer when he joined from Newcastle for £30m, but after he failed to impress during his 25 Premier League appearances he fell out of favour with the Spurs manager.

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Sissoko went onto strain his relationship with Pochettino after stating he wanted "clarity and honesty regarding whether he remained in his plans" and with a lack of interest this summer the Guardian report that Tottenham had to keep Sissoko with the manager willing to give him another chance this season.

Pochettino said: “The player was the first [to be] interested to move or to leave because he wanted to play more in a season that has the World Cup at the end.

"But I think maybe that possibility didn’t exist and I was more than happy for him to stay and to give him the possibility to play.

“He didn’t play too much last season or not as much as he wanted and, always, the player is looking to move, to try to feel better and try to be important, maybe at another club. And, always, the club is sensitive [to the players’ feelings] in every single situation. 

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"But, in the end, when we decided to keep him and he decided to stay with us, it’s about moving on and seeing if he deserves to have the possibility to play.”

Sissoko has rewarded that faith by performing well during all of Tottenham's six Premier League games as he fills in for the injured Mousa Dembele, looking more at ease in the side's new 3-5-2 formation. 

Pochettino admitted that the club record deal would have effected his performances last season but is happy with how he is playing so far. 

He said: “He has improved his self-belief and that is so important. When you arrive in a new club and you don’t play too much and you struggle to understand why, it is normal that your self-belief starts to go down. It is so difficult to recover from that. But today, we are so happy and he is happy that he is doing well.”