Pochettino has a Barcelona blueprint for success as he puts faith in his tots

expected to follow, Pochettino has his eye on the next generation.

There may be more opportunities this season for Josh Onomah, an attacking midfielder, and Cameron Carter-Vickers, a defender. Another attacking midfielder, Marcus Edwards, caught the eye on the pre-season trip to Australia, while midfielder Harry Winks is another highly regarded.

Asked by Standard Sport about the importance of maintaining his club’s identity in an era of unprecedented spending, Pochettino said: “It is very you keep your identity. Tottenham are different from other clubs and for that reason we need to keep bringing players from the academy.”

There is an equally useful purpose to this policy. Even if an academy product does not establish himself, relative success in the first team elevates his transfer value.

If certain conditions are met, Schalke will pay about £17m for Bentaleb next summer. Andros Townsend was sold to Newcastle for £12m. Chairman Daniel Levy is hopeful of generating about £10m for Mason. Alex Pritchard joined Norwich for £8m before this campaign. Levy will try for a similar fee for Tom Carroll.

If all five deals go through, Spurs will collect nearly £60m for players who cost very little. Spurs have no plans to sell Kane but Levy could name his price. Danny Rose, persuaded to leave Leeds for Spurs as a 16-year-old, also has a high value. It is an effective way for a club to sustain itself.

Pochettino’s preference, of course, is for youngsters to stay the course. He added: “We have good examples like Cameron, Harry Winks, Marcus Edwards, Josh Onomah, Luke Amos, Will Miller, Kaziah Sterling.

“Why shouldn’t we believe that one day they are all in the first team and maybe we will get big success with them? This is always important. We have great potential in the academy and we are all excited for the future.”