Tottenham Hotspur have the Belgian back in contention after a domestic man.
Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Graham Roberts has told Talksport his favourite player at the club is Mousa Dembele.
Dembele has not featured in a competitive Spurs fixture since May, when he was handed a six-game domestic ban following an altercation with Chelsea’s Diego Costa.
However, the Belgian is back in contention for Wednesday’s Champions League group stage opener against Monaco, and could make an immediate return to Mauricio Pochettino’s starting lineup.
Naturally, the Argentine may have reservations about the above, due to Dembele’s lack of proper match practice, while summer recruits Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko will also be vying for starting berths.
However, according to Roberts, who played more than 200 games for Spurs between 1980 and 1986, he need not worry.
“He’s my favourite player. I would put him in any team that Tottenham play,” Roberts told the Hawksbee & Jacobs show on Wednesday afternoon. “I know for sure he’s been training really, really hard – they’ve had him doing everything that he can and I know he’s 100 per cent fit.
“If he does play tonight he will give everything – he knows he done wrong at the end of the season at Chelsea and he’s been punished for it.
“He wants to get back in that team now and I thought we missed him at the end of last season, in the run-in, he gives you that little bit extra in midfield, he’s got that quality, and I’m looking forward to him getting back in the team.”
Spurs have only won two of their six league fixtures in Dembele’s absence, ending last season with back-to-back defeats which allowed rivals Arsenal to leapfrog them to second place.
However, Pochettino’s side appear to be back on track, having destroyed Stoke City by four goals to nil on Saturday.
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