Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino insists Roberto Soldado is currently in his plans

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino insists striker Roberto Soldado is currently in his plans for the new season - despite not selecting him for a single pre-season friendly.

The Spaniard, who has struggled since joining Spurs from Valencia in 2013, has trained with the first-team squad this summer but did not travel to the US for their match against the MLS All-stars and is not part of their Audi Cup squad this week.

Both the Spanish and English press have reported a possible move back to La Liga with either Villarreal, Real Sociedad or Sevilla and Sky sources understand the club are prepared to listen to offers for the 30-year-old.

But speaking as Spurs touched down in Munich for their clash against Real Madrid on Tuesday, Pochettino said: "I cannot confirm anything. Today Roberto Soldado is our player and he is in our plans."

Pochettino's side face Real and their former prodigy Gareth Bale at the Allianz Arena, with the winners to play either Bayern Munich or AC Milan in the competition’s final on Wednesday.

Real will be without Bale’s fellow forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema through injury, and Pochettino said: “It’s a good opportunity to show our quality and arrive fit for the first game of Premier League season.

“We expect a very important season. The Premier League is very difficult and we need to compete with the size of the teams. We need to do better than last season.

“We expect to start with a very tough game at Old Trafford and we need to do better there than last season too.”