A shiny new stadium might not help Spurs keep their big stars... they need the top four more than anyone else

TOTTENHAM’S gleaming new £1billion stadium looks stunning.

Mauricio Pochettino will sit in the dugout and manage his side for the first time in their new home tomorrow when Crystal Palace visit.

It will be an occasion, and one which they have had to wait for, with the club originally aiming to have vacated Wembley and moved back to north London by the middle of September.

But it will also be stretching the bounds of loyalty to expect the state-of-the-art ground, impressive though it is, to be the reason for bigname players to remain at Spurs if they don’t secure Champions League football next season.

That is why the run-in will be so important for them even though with Liverpool and Manchester City so far ahead they are not going for the title.

My worry is that failure to clinch a top-four place could see an exodus of top talent however good the ground is.

And that race has become crowded. Spurs are third but Manchester United are resurgent, Arsenal pushing on and Chelsea hanging in there. Two of those four will be disappointed.

Tottenham now have the infrastructure to kick on. But if it is only Europa League football on offer next term, that would mean five or six of the squad, and some in the management team, being targeted by rival clubs in the summer.

The heat is on. I fear that although speculation about the future of Pochettino, Harry Kane and Dele Alli has been quiet over the last six months, questions will be raised again unless they succeed in the next six weeks.

Will a big European name come in for Pochettino? Will Manchester United make an offer for Kane? What about Christian Eriksen? Many of their players are very marketable.

Spurs fans say to me, ‘Stan, don’t sell our players and move our manager’. I say to them, they have managed to keep their stars and manager so far without bringing in marquee signings to help.

Everyone has been super loyal. Why? They are thinking let’s get into this new stadium.

That, plus Champions League football, and hosting the likes of Barcelona next season in the new White Hart Lane would secure those players for another season.

However, if they end the campaign on a downer, the stadium bedding-in period is not successful and they miss out on the top four it will be a different story.

It is Palace tomorrow, then Manchester City in the Champions League quarterfinal next Tuesday. Huddersfield, Brighton and West Ham also visit, and there is a difficult away league trip to City.

The pressure is on Spurs. Although they may get a lift from their new home, it is just as likely to have the same impact on visiting teams.

Would they struggle to keep players if they finish outside the Champions League places? Yes, they would.