Mauricio Pochettino reveals extent of Juan Foyth pursuit – and why Tottenham are delighted to have him

Mauricio Pochettino has hailed the “massive potential” of summer signing Juan Foyth and revealed that it took three months to convince the young Argentine defender to join Tottenham.

Spurs finally completed a deal worth around £10million to sign Pochettino’s compatriot from Estudiantes the day before last week’s transfer deadline, after identifying him as a target last season.

Estudiantes president Juan Sebastian Veron - the former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder who is a former international team-mate of Pochettino - travelled to London in June for talks over Foyth. However, Spurs’ interest cooled when the Argentine club upped the asking price following interest from Paris St Germain.

Foyth, 19, is an Argentina Under-20 centre-back, who can also cover in midfield, and Pochettino believes he has all the qualities to succeed at Spurs.

“He is so good with the ball at his feet. He is so calm and relaxed - I think it’s fantastic,” said Pochettino. “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 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.”

Foyth, who signed a five-year deal, has revealed that a conversation with Pochettino persuaded him to join Spurs and said that the former Argentina international - himself a centre-back who moved to Europe at a young age - has promised him opportunities to play if he impresses in training.

The teenager, who is being considered by Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli for a full call-up, spent the international break at Spurs’ Enfield training base but Pochettino says he is not in contention to make his debut in Saturday’s match at Everton.

“Like all the young players, we’ll try not to put pressure on him,” he said. “It’s a massive change coming from Argentina to England. The football is completely different, the game is completely different.

“He needs to settle in England and then, little by little, start to improve, adapt to the game here. I think it’s early to think about giving him the possibility to play. But he’s doing so well in the last week and we are so happy because his potential is massive.”

Serge Aurier, a £23m deadline-day signing from PSG, is also not expected to play at Goodison Park after only arriving at the club yesterday following the international break, but defender Davinson Sanchez is likely to be on the bench again.

And Fernando Llorente, who joined from Swansea for £12m on deadline day, is in line for his debut.