Pochettino did not like me at first, reveals Alli

Dele Alli has been a revelation since joining Tottenham, but coach Mauricio Pochettino was not always his biggest fan.

Since leaving MK Dons, Alli has become a key figure for both Spurs and England, but he has had to overcome some doubts along the way, not least from Pochettino.

Tottenham star Dele Alli has revealed that coach Mauricio Pochettino did not like him when he first joined from MK Dons, but now the Argentine "loves" him.

Alli joined Spurs from his hometown club ahead of the 2015-16 season, with few expecting him to have a huge impact on the first-team in his debut Premier League campaign.

But he quickly put such reservations to bed and went on to score 10 goals in the league, a record he then went on to obliterate last term, adding an extra eight.

Since leaving MK Dons, Alli has become a key figure for both Spurs and England, but he has had to overcome some doubts along the way, not least from Pochettino.

Writing in a Mail on Sunday serialisation of the new book Brave New World, Alli said: "When I signed for Spurs in 2015, I came to have a look around the training ground, but I think he [Pochettino] was in Spain.

"I didn't see him till I came back for pre-season. It was really hard and I didn't know what he thought of me.

"The first proper one-on-one was with Jesus [Perez, Pochettino's assistant].

"They were speaking in Spanish and then Jesus said to me: 'He didn't like you...' or similar.

"The boss was staring me in the eye to see how I reacted. I was speechless! He [Perez] paused for like a second, and he said '...but now he loves you.'"