With the their opening game of the new Premier League season at Manchester United just two days away, Tottenham Hotspur have been left stranded in Germany after their Audi Cup win over Milan.

Spurs head coach Mauricio Pochettino made it known on Tuesday he wanted to change his side’s travel arrangements to fly back to London on Wednesday night, instead of Thursday.

However, according to the Independent, German authorities have prevented the club from doing so, even though Real Madrid – who were participating in same tournament – were authorised to fly back to Spain on Wednesday night.

The authorities’ decision has left Spurs with just 24 hours to spend in London before then having to fly to Manchester for their match with Louis van Gaal's side which kicks off the new season at 12.45pm.

Perhaps worried about their compressed schedule, Pochettino rested a number of key players for their final friendly last night, a 2-0 win over Italian side Milan.

Among those to be left out was Harry Kane, who was benched whilst Erik Lamela played in an unfamiliar striking position.

The Argentine's poor performance further underlined Pochettino’s need to sign another striker; Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor are both rumoured to be nearing moves, leaving Kane as the club’s solitary striker.

There was one piece of good news to come from Wednesday, though, the return of Hugo Lloris.

The Frenchman made his first appearance after returning from a broken wrist, playing the last 35 minutes of the 2-0 win.

Afterwards, Pochettino emphasised he will not be rushed back too quickly. He stated: “Maybe in the next weeks he will be ok. It was very positive - today to assess him, but maybe he is not ready for 90 minutes. But it’s very important he is ready to come back.”