Chelsea had late offers for academy graduates Ian Maatsen and Trevoh Chalobah. The defensive duo both turned down opportunities to leave Chelsea on transfer deadline day.

According to reports, Burnley tabled a loan offer with £31.5million obligation to buy for Maatsen, while Nottingham Forest were tabled a £25m plus £5m in add-ons offer for Chalobah. Both deals however didn’t work, even though the club was ready to sell.

Explaining what really transpired, Pochettino said: “What I can tell you is that there is there are two sides [to the situation]. If an offer appears, it is because another part of the club accepted that they move or they were trying to find a solution for a player that wanted to leave.

“You cannot only blame the club, if an offer appears for Jesus [Perez, my assistant], it is because Jesus was open to receiving the offer, no? Come on, we need to also be clever.

“Did you receive an offer, Jesus?! No, but it is always easy to blame the club. In the same way, maybe the player was thinking in pre-season or before the season to move in one direction.

“If after that didn’t happen, then I am fair with the player. I will give them a chance to perform and play here. Maybe the player decides to stay after but that’s the business.

“It is not ‘oh the club accepted the offer’ or ‘the player wanted to move’. Come on, it is the business that we know very well.

“The players that are here if they deserve will have the opportunities to play, but they need to be better than the others in their position.”