Danny Rose has claimed that Tottenham would have beaten Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final had Mousa Dembele still be at the club.
Dembele spent six and a half years at Tottenham after joining the North London club from Fulham in the summer of 2012. The Belgian international made 249 appearances for the Lilywhites, scoring 10 goals for the club in all competitions (Transfermarkt).
He was an important part of the Mauricio Pochettino revolution at Spurs, which saw the club challenge for the Premier League title during the 2015/16 and 2016/17 campaigns.
The midfielder departed N17 to join Guangzhou City back in 2019 and he announced his retirement last season after his contract with the Chinese Super League side ran out.
All of Dembele’s former Tottenham and Belgium teammates lavish praise on the talent that he possessed, with Pochettino labelling him a ‘genius’ and comparing him to the likes of Deigo Maradona and Ronaldinho (Marca).
Mousa Dembele was a huge miss for Spurs in 2019
Rose has now insisted Spurs might have been crowned European champions if the 36-year-old had stayed at the club for six more months.
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When asked who were the most gifted players he played alongside at Spurs, the former left-back said on the Official Tottenham Hotspur Podcast: “I would say Luka and then I would say Dembele would be a very close second. He was absolutely amazing. For me, if he hadn’t left in January we would’ve won the final in the Champions League.
“Obviously in January it’s not in anyone’s thoughts we’d get to the final, but that’s how influential he was for us, if he played in the final we would’ve won that game.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I do not think it would be fair to blame Pochettino or Levy for the decision to sell Dembele back in 2019. The reality is that the midfielder’s body was breaking down and he thus wanted one final payday. The club did the right thing by not standing in his way when he expressed a desire to go to China.
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