The 30-year-old has taken his time in coming to prominence in central midfield but his performances have been at an outstanding standard this year
Mauricio Pochettino said last month that if he and his coaching team had got hold of Mousa Dembele when he was 18 or 19 he would have gone on to become of one the best footballers in the world.
He compared the midfielder to Jay-Jay Okocha, Diego Maradona, Ivan De La Pena and Ronaldinho – all ex-teammates of the Tottenham manager – describing him as one of the five “genius” players he has had the pleasure of encountering in his career.