Tottenham leave Moussa Sissoko out of US tour squad as exit talk gathers pace

Moussa Sissoko has been omitted from Tottenham Hotspur's travelling squad for their forthcoming pre-season tour of the United States, further fuelling speculation that he could be set to leave the club this summer.

Confirming their 26-man group for International Champions Cup matches against Paris Saint-Germain, AS Roma and Manchester City on Wednesday morning (19 July), Spurs revealed that the French international was suffering from an unspecified virus.

Tottenham beat Everton to the club-record £30m ($39.1m) signing of Euro 2016 star Sissoko from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day last summer, but have yet to see any sort of return on that significant investment.

The 27-year-old made just eight Premier League starts during his maiden campaign under Mauricio Pochettino and failed to score a single goal in any competition.

Such a dismal season quickly gave rise to suggestions that Tottenham were already willing to cut their losses on a player who could reunite with Clinton Njie at Marseille, although The Mail claim that his hefty £85,000-per-week wages are proving problematic in that regard. The same publication report that the Premier League runners-up could end up having to supplement some of that salary in order to get rid.

Erik Lamela has also not accompanied his teammates to America as he continues to recover from operations on both hips. The Argentine was pictured reporting for the start of pre-season training earlier this month having not played at all since October 2016, although The Guardian report that the current best-case scenario is that he will return to full fitness by late September.

Danny Rose also stays behind, with the England left-back a doubt for the start of the season after undergoing surgery on a long-term knee injury in May. Forward Heung-Min Son is similarly absent after being ruled out for up to three months with a right forearm fracture sustained on international duty for South Korea last month. He also went under the knife.

Several youngsters have been selected by Pochettino for a tour that includes stops in Orlando, New Jersey and Nashville. Brandon Austin, Jaden Brown, Jon Dinzeyi, Anthony Georgiou, Tashan Oakley-Boothe and Alfie Whiteman are all included alongside the likes of Will Miller, Kyle Walker-Peters and Cameron Carter-Vickers.