'He has very good legs' - Pochettino raves about Tottenham summer signing

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Published on:

08 Sep 2017, 11:50 am

By Harry Sykes

Mauricio Pochettino has hailed the "massive potential" of Juan Foyth and explained how Tottenham fought off interest from a host of clubs to sign the Argentina under-20 international.

Spurs identified Foyth as a target last season but they did not complete a £10million deal for the centre-back until the penultimate day of the summer window.

Estudiantes president Juan Veron, a former international teammate of the Spurs boss, travelled to London in June for talks over Foyth but Spurs' interest cooled on Pochettino's advice when the Argentine club upped the asking price following interest from Paris Saint-Germain.

However, the White Hart Lane manager is convinced by the qualities of Foyth, 19, as he explained why he has got what it take to succeed in the Premier League.

"He is so good with the ball at his feet," Pochettino said at his weekly media briefing,as quoted by ESPN FC. "He is so calm and relaxed, I think it's fantastic

"It's true that he is young but he can be very aggressive and strong, too. He has very good legs, a good mentality and he is so mature for his age.

"We saw him playing at Estudiantes, and started to talk with him and his parents and family to try to convince him to join us.

"It was a big, big deal. It took three months to arrange with Estudiantes because a lot of clubs were interested in him. In the end he decided to join us. It was good for him and good for us, too."

Pochettino delivered some words of warning by explaining that it will take time for Foyth to acclimatise to English football.

But the Tottenham manager has an excellent record of blooding young players and developing them into bona fide stars.

In other Tottenham news, the club have been hit by a devastating blow as a key first-teamer has been sidelined until next year.

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Juan Foyth