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Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that he does not want to weigh down new signing Lucas Moura with too much pressure, as he adapts himself to the Premier League.
Lucas joined the Lilywhites from French outfit Paris Saint-Germain on the final day of the transfer window, with a fee of £23m being agreed between the two clubs.
While the Brazilian is still to make his first team debut for the London-based team, Tottenham's Argentine manager insists that he won't create too much pressure on his new signing and will wait for him to adapt to his new surroundings.
Pochettino also took time to cite the examples of Erik Lamela, Moussa Sissoko and Heung-Min Son, who have all needed time to adapt after arriving in England, and says the fact that Lucas is no Neymar, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo makes it even clearer that there will be no added pressure on him.
"Exciting? No. We signed a player that is not playing at PSG", Pochettino said at a press conference.
"We signed a player who has not competed for six or seven months. Of course he’s an exciting name for our fans.
"He came from PSG, a big club. But it’s different to signing Neymar, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
"The expectation is that he can help us in the next three months but we cannot put too much pressure on him.
"He needs to adapt, know the players, the Premier League, the philosophy of the new team.
"There’s plenty of examples here — like Son, Moussa SIssoko, Lamela — that they need time. Many quality players struggle in six months or one year to adapt to the team, the club, the Premier League.
"I don’t want to create too much expectation but if he’s an amazing help for us and can score goals, fantastic. But if he doesn’t score from the beginning, it’s not a mistake."