Dele Alli has revealed that he was left “speechless’ after being told that Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino did not like him soon after his transfer to the club.
The England international, 21, was signed from League One side MK Dons in January 2015 for £5million but did not move to White Hart Lane permanently until the summer.
Alli has gone on to establish himself as an integral member of a highly rated team that has secured consecutive third and second place Premier League finishes.
But the attacking midfielder admitted that his first one-to-one conversation with the Argentine manager and his coaching assistant Jesus Perez had been a surprise.
In a new book exploring about Pochettino’s Tottenham entitled, Brave New World: Inside Pochettino’s Spurs, serialised by the Daily Mail, Alli said: “I didn’t know what he thought of me. The first proper one-on-one was with Jesus.
“They were speaking in Spanish and then Jesus said to me: ‘He didn’t like you…’ or similar. The boss was staring me in the eye to see how I reacted. I was speechless! He paused for like a second, and he said ‘…but now he loves you’.”
OPINION
Alli’s anecdote reveals how Pochettino uses psychology as a weapon to get to know his players and maximise their talents. It has certainly worked with the midfielder, whose hair-trigger temper has become a constant theme of his Spurs career but who continues to deliver when it matters. In 106 appearances for the north Londoners, Alli has scored 35 goals, a tremendous record for a player who does not turn 22 until April.