Alderweireld and Rose distracted by transfer talk

Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that some of his Tottenham Hotspur players have been left distracted by the recent transfer window.

Toby Alderweireld was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, while fellow defender Danny Rose was a runoured target for a host of European clubs including PSG and Schalke.

No players headed out of the door on transfer deadline day, with Pochettino now revealing that he now needs to get his players re-focused on playing for Spurs.

Given Pochettino’s comments below, you would think that neither will start tomorrow’s Premier League opener against Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

“All are in different places mentally,” Pochettino told ESPN.

“There’s a lot of rumours and it’s normal that, if you appear on the TV and in the media, it’s impossible not to be affected a little bit by the rumours because in some moments you don’t know if it’s true or not true.

“Players like Toby or Danny Rose, they called me all through the World Cup and yesterday we were talking. We need to deal with that and help the players to be in a very good shape and then to help the team.

“But I am not worried. If [they are] not [ready] this week, then it’s next week, or maybe the week after. It’s so long, the season. There’s a lot of games to play and I hope that all will be fit and help the team to achieve what we want.”