Mauricio Pochettino Insists Players Who Want to Leave Tottenham Are Free to Go

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has claimed that 'players who don’t want to stay can leave' the club and that they will face little resistance from him in their attempts to move away from north London.

Spurs have been on edge during recent transfers after some of their biggest talents attracted interest from across Europe, but so far the club have been successful in holding onto their best players - something which was praised once again following the most recent summer window.

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But Pochettino, seemingly in an attempt to lay down a marker that no one is bigger than the club, has claimed that he's not going to go out of his way to convince players to stay at Tottenham.

The Argentine head coach even admitted that he would be happy to use squads comprised solely from Under-23 players in the academy.

"I am not a person who is going to convince players to stay or not stay," Pochettino said, quoted by 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."

Tottenham fans will be less willing for the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli to be shown the exit door in north London, especially after a brilliant start to the new season has Spurs joint top of the Premier League table.

Pochetino's side can maintain their perfect start to the campaign when they travel to Watford on Sunday, although the Hornets will prove to be tough opponents as they have also won all of their opening games this season.