Spurs Boss Pochettino Reveals Why Dele Alli's WhatsApp Image Has 'Concerned' Him
Mauricio Pochettino has spoken of his concern over Dele Alli's future if the Tottenham star doesn't surround himself with the right off-the-field characters.
The Spurs boss' memoirs of his side's 2016/17 season have been turned into a book - 'Brave New World' - and offers a unique insight into scenes that football fans are not always privy to.
With an excerpt published from the book by the Daily Mail, Pochettino writes about how he became a tad worried about the people Alli may end up associating himself with in his career - after being made aware of the 22-year-old's WhatsApp profile picture.
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The image depicts a young boy being surrounded by enemies, and Pochettino claimed that such a picture may have some worrying conetxt behind it regarding the England international's feelings about agents, advisers and others who wish to make a quick buck off today's players.
He wrote: "The danger remains, as is often the case, that he will forget what has got him to this point. I have had to repeat to him this season (2016-17). The other risk is whether those around him know how to treat a top-level professional.
"His WhatsApp photo of a cartoon of a boy surrounded by people who all want a piece of him suggests that he needs to be surrounded by the right people.
"I often think about that WhatsApp photo. John McDermott (Spurs academy chief) says that when the trough is full, the pigs come from all over to feed.
"The coach used to be the dominant voice but now the (modern) player listens to so many others, especially those who promise the world."
Alli has gone on record himself as stating that, if it wasn't for a footbal career at the highest level, he would have fallen in with the wrong crowd due to those people he hung out with as a teenager.
The ex-MK Dons youth product has, evidently, gone on to become one of the hottest young players on the planet and has courted interest from the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in recent months.
