Jack Wilshere has claimed that Tottenham favourite, Mousa Dembele, was his toughest opponent, as he told Tubes’ YouTube channel.
The former Arsenal player claimed that Dembele, who left Tottenham in 2019 for £11 million (Guardian), was ‘strong, quick, skillful’ and he also had a ‘nasty’ side to his game.
Whilst Tottenham have Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the middle of the park now, they have still hugely missed Dembele’s bite and ball-carrying ability in their XI.
When he left, the North London outfit when a year without winning away from home and you can bet his absence played a huge part.
But Wilshere, who mentioned that he played against Lionel Messi, explained why Dembele made his life difficult.
“The best player I played against? I played against Messi, which is obviously, for me, the greatest player of all time,” said Wilshere. “But I only played against him twice.
“But the one I played against consistently that I used to hate playing against was Dembele from Tottenham. What a player!
“He was strong, quick, skilful and he had that nasty side to him. A few games where I have a little bit with him and he’s just left a little on me. But he’s not even cared.
“And he was so strong. He would almost show you the ball. Then he would (go past you) ‘no, see you later’.”
In terms of sheer numbers, Dembele wasn’t someone who stood out from the page, but he still made life very difficult for the opponent.
If it wasn’t for his constant injuries then he wouldn’t have had to leave for China because he had plenty of talent and life left in the tank.
The partnership he built with Victor Wanyama under Mauricio Pochettino was one of the most underrated in recent years, but both players, unfortunately, struggled with injuries and the tough nature of Premier League football.
Many Tottenham fans would probably love to have him, in the peak of his powers, in their colours now.
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