Mauricio Pochettino has said that Christian Eriksen’s future will have to be decided on Saturday as there will be “no time” for the midfielder to complete a move if it is not agreed before the north London derby.

Eriksen, who is in the final year of his contract, wants to leave Tottenham but his hopes of joining Juventus, Barcelona or Real Madrid have faded this summer after concrete interest failed to materialise.

Pochettino has now said that his future must be decided before Sunday’s north London derby, giving the Dane one more day to try to find a move elsewhere before the closure of the European transfer window on Monday.

“On Saturday we are going to know if Christian is going to be with us or not,” said Pochettino. “That is the most important thing. After, [on] Sunday it is the game, there is no real time to do something.”

Asked if Eriksen is in the right state of mind to play against Arsenal on Sunday, Pochettino said: “He’s working hard. That’s my judgement, with my staff. You need to be right. People need to trust.

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“If we make the decision that he’s going to play it’s because we believe he can perform in the way that we expect or we need him to perform. You cannot be 100 per cent right in your judgement. If some people have more information to make that decision, it’s us.

“People will say, why are you playing Christian? The team-mates can say, why are you playing Christian if the rumour is he’s going to leave? Gaffer, why am I not playing when Christian wants to leave, is looking to go away?

“In this situation, there are plenty of things that happen inside that I cannot translate to you and you to our fans. The only way of working hard and being all together is trusting in us, in our decision, in our judgement. Because it is so difficult.”