13 January 2024 , 12:44
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Jose Mourinho was only told to sign one player by Sir Alex Ferguson while in charge of Manchester United, Dele Alli - but the Portuguese boss snubbed the advice.
The Special One was at the helm at Old Trafford for two-and-a-half years and spent notable sums on the likes of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku. Ferguson, despite being retired, took up an ambassadorial role with the club and remained in the background.
He advised Mourinho to pursue Alli, who was excelling at Tottenham. He'd made the move from MK Dons, where he impressed as a youngster, and begun bossing Premier League games, eventually winning numerous individual accolades.
Alli helped Tottenham beat United on several occasions and also became a mainstay with England, but Mourinho wasn't convinced and opted against making the signing.
He said: "Sir Alex Ferguson gave me only one bit of advice in two and a half years: 'Buy Dele Alli'. That guy, with that mentality, the way he plays, the aggression he has in mind. This guy is the Manchester United player. Buy Dele Alli. And he [Ferguson] has an eye for a player. But he [Alli] is not a good trainer, we need to find motivation for the guy."
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Alli's value peaked while Mourinho was at United with the Special One later becoming his manager at Spurs. The midfielder enjoyed an initial rebirth under Mourinho at Tottenham but later tailed off with Mourinho questioning the player's attitude, confessing in Amazon's All or Nothing documentary that Alli's performances on the training ground were not always up to standard.
Dele Alli enjoyed some brilliant success at Tottenham (Alex Morton/Getty Images)Alli was later moved on and is now on Everton's books after returning to Merseyside after a loan spell at Besiktas in Turkey failed to work out. Injury problems remain an issue but the midfielder has revealed that Mourinho later apologised for calling him lazy.
“I’m glad you asked me about that [Jose Mourinho calling me lazy] so that lazy comment people all love to bring that up, that interview obviously that was on Amazon," the midfielder told The Overlap. "He called me lazy – that was the day after recovery day.
"A week later, he apologised to me for calling me lazy because he’d seen me actually train and play. But that wasn’t in the documentary, and no one spoke up about that because it was only me and him."