Paul Merson claims Tottenham players will leave if Mauricio Pochettino joins Manchester United

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Paul Merson has offered his thoughts on Tottenham Hotspur and their manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Paul Merson has claimed that Tottenham players will have a ‘great excuse’ to leave the club if manager Mauricio Pochettino joins Manchester United in the summer.

The Telegraph claims that United have made Pochettino their number one target after they sacked manager Jose Mourinho on Monday and replaced him with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on an interim basis.

A number of Spurs players have signed long-term contracts in recent months, most recently the club announced on their official website that defender Jan Vertonghen has extended his deal until 2020.

Despite those signed deals, outspoken pundit Merson claimed that a number of players will follow their manager out of the door if he decides to swap north London for Manchester.

“If he [Pochettino] goes, I see them all following,” Merson told Sky Sports News on 21/12/2018 at 11:20 am. “I see Kane wanting to go, I see Alli wanting to go, I see Eriksen wanting to go. I think it is a big time for Tottenham these next six months.

“Them players have signed [long term contracts] because of Pochettino, playing under a top manager and they have a very good team. They have a great excuse if Pochettino goes to say ‘Well, I want to go now’. And that’s the problem. It will be a domino effect. Pochettino goes, it will just all fall.”

Despite the speculation surrounding their manager, Spurs managed to secure a deserved 2-0 victory over rivals Arsenal on Wednesday night, which knocked them out of the Carabao Cup.

The results means that Pochettino’s side will face Chelsea in a two-legged semi-final, starting in January, with the winner set to meet either League One side Burton Albion or the Premier League champions Manchester City.

Before then, Tottenham have a busy festive schedule to deal with starting with a trip to Everton on Sunday and ending the year with home clashes against Bournemouth and high-flying Wolves.