Mousa Dembele: 'I'm not focused on genius tag'

By Jonny Whitfield, Reporter | 26 March 2018

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele insists that he is not focused on the "genius" tag he received from manager Mauricio Pochettino last month.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele has insisted that he is not focused on the "genius" tag he received from manager Mauricio Pochettino last month.

Pochettino compared Dembele to the likes of Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho for his awareness with the ball, but the Belgian midfielder told reporters that he is only focused on improving his own game.

"I'm very happy about this compliment," Dembele said. "It's a bit difficult to focus too much on that, because after all you have to perform every week and you need to be focused for the next game and if I will always think about this compliment it's not always good."

Speaking about the future of teammate Toby Alderweireld, who has suffered from injury this term, Dembele said: "I think he's fit but for details I think it's better he speaks with you because it's difficult to talk about other players.

"Obviously he's a very good player, a very important player. Here in the national team we have a lot of good players and at Tottenham as well we have a lot of good players, so it's always difficult to talk about."

Tottenham are fourth in the Premier League table ahead of a crunch match with top-four rivals Chelsea on Easter Sunday.