Mousa Dembele has to be one of the most underrated players of the Premier League era.
The Belgian midfielder joined Fulham from AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2010 and caught the eye during his two seasons at Craven Cottage before moving to Tottenham two years later.
Sir Alex Ferguson privately hailed Spurs’ £15 million signing as the ‘deal of the summer’, according to Goal, and the Manchester United legend’s assessment proved accurate.
Dembele produced many sensational individual performances during his seven years at Tottenham.
The Belgium international was not only blessed with incredible power but he was also technically excellent and a joy to watch on his day.
Dembele would effortlessly glide past opponents when he hit top gear, using feints and his glorious left foot to move Spurs higher up the pitch.
Looking back, it’s a surprise that Dembele didn’t end up joining a club like Man Utd. There’s no doubt he was good enough to play for one of Europe’s elite clubs at his peak.
Sergio Ramos will never forget Mousa Dembele
Dembele had an edge to him - a nasty side - and never shirked a challenge. Even when Real Madrid played Tottenham in the Champions League in November 2017, the tough-tackling midfielder made sure that his teammates weren’t bullied after coming on as a second-half substitute.
Sergio Ramos, one of the greatest masters of football’s dark arts, will never forget the night he came face-to-face with a fired-up Dembele at Wembley.
Dembele knew the only way to stop Ramos was to fight fire with fire - and the Belgian subsequently showed everyone how to deal with the revered Spanish centre-back.
Watch the footage here…
How many players have been brave enough to dish out this type of treatment to Ramos? Not many other names immediately spring to mind.
Let’s check out some of the best reaction following that night at Wembley…
Tottenham ended up sealing a famous 3-1 victory over the Spanish giants thanks to a Dele Alli brace and another goal from Christian Eriksen.
Cristiano Ronaldo pulled a goal back for the visitors with 10 minutes remaining but it proved too little too late.
Ramos, who joined Paris Saint-Germain this summer, presumably let out a huge sigh of relief when Dembele left Europe for Chinese outfit Guangzhou City in 2019.
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