Watch Tottenham vs Newcastle on Super Sunday from 4pm on Sky Sports Premier League; Kick-off is at 4.30pm
Friday 23 August 2019 16:08, UK
Mauricio Pochettino says new Tottenham signing Giovani Lo Celso is training well but is still "so far away" from what he expects.
Lo Celso joined Spurs on Deadline Day on a season-long loan from Real Betis, with the club holding an option to sign the 23-year-old on a permanent deal.
The Argentina international made his debut in the closing stages of Tottenham's 2-2 draw against Manchester City, but Pochettino says he is not yet ready to play regularly.
"I think Lo Celso is a situation that is not going to be easy," he said.
"He was in extended holidays after the Copa America, he didn't have a proper pre-season and didn't train too much. Then signed for us after a week without training.
"He's training well but is still so far away from what we expect from him. We need to give him time. He was involved [on Saturday] and will maybe have the possibility to help the team in some points, but we won't expect too much from him.
"We need to not put the responsibility on him, only to improve and adapt himself with us and see. It's a natural process to learn and improve. The moment he will be fit and deserves to play, then sure, he will have the chance like other players."
Meanwhile, one player possibly heading out the door could be Victor Wanyama. Belgian side Club Brugge are in talks with Tottenham over a possible deal for the Kenyan, but Pochettino didn't give too much away on the midfielder's future.
"I don't know. To be honest I can't say something that will or won't happen," he said. "Football is not about yesterday. It's about today and you need to show every day. Victor was injured and others stepped up.
"We are not a charity, not in this case about Victor, but we have a lot of options to play different players and sometimes players are lucky, some are unlucky.
"It's like: why play Toby (Alderweireld) and Davinson (Sanchez) and not Jan (Vertonghen)? Or why not Davinson, or Toby, or (Danny) Rose or (Ben) Davies?
On Vertonghen, who is yet to play this season, Pochettino added: "I am only going to decide to try and provide the best players that are in my head to play. If I don't play someone it is because I believe there is another in my opinion that is better. This is very clear."
Tottenham face Newcastle on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League. Spurs have four points from their opening two games, while Steve Bruce's side are yet to pick up their first point of the season.
Asked whether he might experiment against Newcastle before the North London derby against Arsenal next Sunday, Pochettino replied: "Experiment? I am not a scientist. I am not a chemist. You are talking about experimenting. That is in some room outside of this training room.
"We are coaches and we do our job, we don't experiment. We train people that have the ability to play football. Then that's it.
"Please don't compare us with doctors or people in university studying a lot. I have a lot of respect for the people who do what you say, experiment, to help life, but for us to find solutions, only I am a football coach, far away from the people who work in science or at university. I have full respect for them."
Pochettino confirmed that forward Heung-Min Son is ready to return to the side following a three-match ban, while a decision on Dele Alli's fitness will be made before the game against Newcastle.
