Mauricio Pochettino confirms Tottenham's Nabil Bentaleb, Federico Fazio and Alex Pritchard can leave

Mauricio Pochettino has made it crystal clear that Tottenham Hotspur trio Nabil Bentaleb, Alex Pritchard and Federico Fazio have no future at White Hart Lane. All three players have been omitted from the pre-season tour of Australia, where last season's Premier League title contenders face International Champions Cup fixtures against Juventus and Atletico Madrid in Melbourne before heading to Norway for a friendly against Inter Milan.

Alongside fellow midfield academy graduate Ryan Mason, Bentaleb made 35 appearances during Pochettino's first campaign at the helm but featured a paltry 11 times last term due to persistent injury problems that culminated in the player undergoing knee surgery in March.

Centre-back Fazio, meanwhile, played only in a Capital One Cup third-round defeat to Arsenal before being dispatched for an unhappy loan spell back at former club Sevilla in January.

Although he picked up a second Europa League winners' medal during his second stint in Andalusia, the 29-year-old started just four La Liga matches and was sent off during his debut at Celta Vigo. Ex-England youth midfielder Pritchard only a signed a new four-year contract last summer but suffered a serious ankle problem at the European Under-21 Championship before a lackslustre loan spell with West Brom.

"The situation of the other three players is very clear," Pochettino was quoted as saying by ESPN at a press conference on Monday (25 July). "They are not in my plans and they know. I have communicated with them and it was made very clear. It's not a problem. They know the situation and we'll see what happens."

Clinton Njie was also left out of Tottenham's 24-man travelling squad, with widespread reports suggesting that he was set to join Marseille on a temporary basis as part of the £10.9m ($14.1m) deal to bring France U21 winger Georges-Kevin Nkoudou to north London. However, Pochettino claims that the young striker has actually been left behind due to fitness issues.

"Njie is injured – he picked up a small injury a few days after the start of preseason and he is in London and was not available to come," the Argentine added.