MAURICIO POCHETTINO once said that retirement-bound Mousa Dembele ranked with Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho as one of the five football geniuses he had met.
The Tottenham boss also claimed that had the Belgian midfielder worked under him as a teenager, he would have been one of the best players in the world.
Dembele, 34, today announced he will retire from professional football at the end of the season.
And his decision brings to end an incredible career which involved a spell at Fulham before seven years at Tottenham, plus a further three with Chinese side Guangzhou.
Fan favourite Dembele made 250 appearances for the north Londoners, scoring 10 goals.
And Pochettino said in 2017: “He has started to work very hard, we are very happy with him.
“I always say, ‘Mousa, when I write my book I will say you are one of the genius players I have been lucky to meet’.
“They are Maradona, Ronaldinho, Jay-Jay Okocha, Ivan de la Pena and and Mousa Dembele. We’ve always told him that if we had taken him at 18 or 19 years old, he would have become one of the best players in the world.”
The former Fulham man, who joined Tottenham from the Cottagers for £15million in 2012, looked to be heading out of the door at White Hart Lane after Pochettino took over as manager two years later.
Dembele’s patient play and stamina issues seemed to be at odds with his new gaffer’s high-tempo, pressing game.
But having adapted his style and boosted his fitness, the ace not only became a key player for Tottenham, he also became one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.
Poch continued: “Mousa Dembele is completely different to 2½ years ago when we arrived here. He didn’t play too much in his first season, he always had problems.
“So I must give all credit to the coaches, sports science guys and all the medical staff, who have now created a new Mousa Dembele who is strong and can play.”
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The player certainly benefitted from his enhanced physical prowess, topping the Prem’s passing and dribbling stats in the 2016/17 season.
In the 20 top-flight matches he was been involved with that term, Dembele attempted 1,092 passes and successfully found the intended recipient with 998 of them.
This pass completion rate of 91 per cent put him ahead of rival midfield pass masters such as Yaya Toure of Manchester City, Granit Xhaka of Arsenal, N’Golo Kante of Chelsea and Ander Herrera of Manchester United.
But the place Dembele really excelled was when driving Spurs forward in the opposition half. There he stood head and shoulders above the opposition with his pass completion rate of 92 per cent, or 676 of 738 attempted passes.
And there were none better when running with the ball, as the stats, supplied by EA Sports, showed he had completed 61 of 71 attempted dribbles, a success rate of 86 per cent.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
