Speaking on The High Performance Podcast, Eric Dier has been waxing-lyrical about former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele.
The Belgian was a star for Spurs for a number of years after signing for Fulham. But sadly, all good things have to come to an end, and in January 2019, Spurs let Dembele go to China, where he is still playing to this day.
It may be three years since Dembele departed, but for many at Spurs, he’s remembered as one of the best players they’ve ever seen at the club.
Indeed, even in recent weeks Lucas Moura and Son-Heung Min have been full of praise for him, and now Dier has echoed a similar sentiment.
What’s Dier said about Dembele?
Dier was full of praise for Dembele and his fellow Belgian Jan Vertonghen.
“Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen, who were at Tottenham and older than me, I recognised those were the guys that I want to be with and I like the way they lead their lives outside of football,” Dier said.
“They really had that where nothing affected them. They were extremely humble. Mousa Dembele was the best footballer I’ve ever played with.”
Still not been replaced
Dembele left Spurs with a lot of happy memories, but it’s fair to say there’s an element of sadness in these comments.
Indeed, the fact of the matter is that Dembele still hasn’t been replaced, and Spurs have struggled ever since his departure.
They’ve tried to bring in players of a similar mould such as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, while Oliver Skipp could grow into the player Spurs are looking for, but there’s still a big Dembele-shaped hole in Spurs’ squad, and that’s something that may struggle to address – after all, there aren’t many players in the game who can produce like Dembele could.
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