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Mauricio Pochettino tells his Tottenham stars to focus on catching Chelsea, not glamour deals

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

Mauricio Pochettino admits he faces a challenge to ensure his players keep their minds on the job amid interest from wealthier clubs.

Tottenham have competed for the title in each of the last two seasons despite a lower transfer and salary budget than those of their main rivals — which has attracted the attention of some of Europe’s richest sides.

Standard Sport revealed on Monday Kyle Walker has discussed his future with Pochettino, while Danny Rose held similar talks earlier in the campaign in the wake of interest from Manchester United and Manchester City.

Both players know they could probably double their salaries — thought to be about £70,000 per week — if they left Tottenham.

Pochettino says he has been told by chairman Daniel Levy that Spurs will not be forced into selling players they wish to keep but the Argentine accepts his players may be distracted by the prospect of these offers. With Spurs second in the table and still chasing the title, it is something they cannot afford.

He said: “I am not worried but I need to take care of the situation to ensure the players don’t lose focus. It is important to ignore all the rumours because they are so young. It’s not their fault but sometimes they lose their focus a little bit on what is most important today.

“They start to spend time thinking, they worry: ‘What is my situation if another club arrives with an offer that doubles my salary?’ If it happens, it always happens at the end of the season and then we will take a decision. But now, the club and fans deserve that we are focused on trying to win. Maybe at the end you might not win but that is because this is football — not because you are spending energy or time thinking about your future.

“The future is the future. Don’t worry. You are a young, talented player. Everything that will come will be good but now, please, be focused on winning, and try to enjoy our passion that is to play football. If not, you start to be worried.

On this Day | Luka Modric (left) signed for Spurs in 2008 Photo: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images
On this Day | Luka Modric (left) signed for Spurs in 2008 Photo: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images

“I have experience of players who don’t sleep because they are thinking [of the future]. In the past here these things have happened with Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov.

“But when you look at the media today, it seems that nearly 20 players from Tottenham will move and that the richest clubs are concentrating on our players.”