Mourinho hoped Pochettino would take Man Utd job for transfer favour
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Jose Mourinho reportedly viewed Manchester United appointing Mauricio Pochettino as manager as a chance to get rid of Dele Alli. The Portuguese coach oversaw the brunt of Alli’s downfall at Tottenham Hotspur before his sacking in April 2021.
Mourinho replaced Pochettino at Spurs in November 2019 but failed to end the club’s long-running trophy drought.
Alli’s form was one of many issues he faced in north London, spelling the start of his decline after an exciting start to his career under Pochettino.
The 27-year-old midfielder made 194 appearances under Poch after joining Tottenham from MK Dons in 2015, registering 55 goals and 52 assists.
Alli’s potential and outstanding performance, which earned him back-to-back PFA Young Player of the Year awards, prompted the Argentine to label him the future of English football.
Under Pochettino’s watch, Alli scored more goals in his first 50 Premier League games than Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, among other icons.
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He had also established himself as an England regular, but then his form fell off a cliff long before Poch left Spurs, and he failed to recover it in the aftermath.
Pochettino loved Alli but gave up on him at the bitter end as he met any form of criticism with bemusement and hostility.
That didn’t stop Mourinho from reportedly joking that Pochettino could sign Alli if he replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United boss.
According to the Mail, Mourinho texted a friend: “Maybe he [Poch] will take Alli. He is not a fit for my team.”
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The now-AS Roma manager’s doubts about Alli were made public in the popular Amazon documentary ‘All or Nothing’.
A scene showed Mourinho sitting down with Alli, warning him to shift his attitude to prevent wasting his career.
It’s been reported that Pochettino had a similar discussion with the Everton flop before he departed Tottenham.
After returning to Merseyside from his loan at Besiktas with an injury, Alli’s future beyond this summer is in limbo.
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