Lucas Moura will have to earn his place in Tottenham Starting XI, says coach Mauricio Pochettino

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London, February 4: Tottenham Hotspur coach Mauricio Pochettino has made it clear that new signing Lucas Moura will have to fight to make the Starting XI of his team.

The Brazilian only made five appearances, that too off the bench, this season for PSG after the Ligue 1 club signed Kylian Mbappe and Neymar in the summer.

He also hasn't been included in PSG's Champions League side and was considered surplus to PSG's requirements by boss Unai Emery.

A frustrated Moura decided to jump the ship for more playing time and Spurs eventually picked him up in the January transfer window for £25 million.

Moura started training with Spurs only on Saturday. Subsequently, Spurs' Argentine manager suggested the player will be given no special treatment in the Premier League.

"For, him he's not going to come here, arrive and say: 'Oh because he is Lucas Moura and came from Paris Saint-Germain, he's going to play because he is Lucas Moura'," Pochettino said.

"He needs to show that he is better than our players. That is the fair competition. If you are in Paris Saint-Germain and Neymar arrives, if he is better than you, then he plays. It's fair, he's better.

"If not, then they need to compete. Lucas Moura must compete with [Erik] Lamela, with Sonny [Heung-min Son], with [Christian] Eriksen."

Spurs will play Liverpool in a high voltage fixture of fourth-placed Liverpool versus fifth-placed Spurs. But Pochettino hinted that the Brazilian is unlikely to be involved in the game as he has not yet had a proper training session with the squad.

Pochettino said: “I don’t want to say yes or no, but I don’t think it is possible to be available.

“He’s still doing things – he was yesterday doing some tests with our sports science medical staff, today he’s in Paris doing private things.

“We hope tomorrow he can start to work with the team. Maybe he needs to work alone a little bit to reach the team’s level.”