Mauricio Pochettino says the European transfer window closing two weeks later than in England has the potential to “create a mess” at Tottenham.
Spurs concluded their summer business on Thursday as they added Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso to their squad, having already broken their transfer record on Tanguy N’Dombele, but European clubs still have until September 2 to sign players.
That puts Pochettino in peril of losing a number of players, namely Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose, with Jan Vertonghen also in the last year of his contract, and being unable to replace them until January.
The Argentinian did not discuss any individual situation, but criticised the Premier League’s decision to bring the deadline forward.
“All the personal situation, it is not right to talk,” he said. “There is a lot of rumours. We cannot waste time talking about every rumour that appeared on the news.
“That is another point to argue that we are at a disadvantage with European clubs because they have 20 days more, because I think it is a big mistake for the Premier League to allow that.
“In this situation we open the door for clubs in Europe to try and create confusion in the club. The Premier League cannot give this advantage to European clubs because we are going to compete with them.
“If you are not going to compete with these clubs in the Champions League then OK, but competing with European clubs, it’s a big advantage to them.
“They can create a mess in a club like us.”
Pochettino was otherwise in a chipper mood as he previewed the Premier League opener against Aston Villa on Saturday, given his club’s dealings in the transfer market this summer as they backed his calls for them to “act like a big club”.
The arrival of Lo Celso, N’Dombele and Sessegnon has left him “happy plus” with his squad.
“We cannot expect for Ryan… Of course he’s going to have the possibility to play. Of course the player who shows their best is going to play but there’s no pressure on him or Lo Celso or Tanguy.”
Sessegnon joins a sizeable list of players unavailable for the Villa game.
Dele Alli (hamstring) and Ben Davies (groin) are injured while Juan Foyth and Son Heung-min are serving suspensions carried over from last season.
Eric Dier, Serge Aurier and Victor Wanyama are back in training.
