Jose Mourinho denies putting Eric Dier in 'compromising position'

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Jose Mourinho has denied that he spoke to Eric Dier about moving to Manchester United after his side's victory over Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur last November.

In his new book titled 'Brave New World: Inside Pochettino's Spurs', ghost-written by the journalist Guillem Balague, the Tottenham manager claims that United's interest in Dier during 2016 'destabilised' the midfielder and caused him to go through a poor period of form.

Pochettino was particularly concerned by Mourinho having a conversation with Dier in the Old Trafford tunnel after a Henrikh Mkhitaryan goal had consigned a lacklustre Tottenham to defeat.

"Maybe it is a common Mourinho tactic, but he put Eric in a compromising position," Pochettino wrote. "You cannot do that after a defeat."

Ahead of the two sides' meeting at Old Trafford again this Saturday lunch-time, Mourinho dismissed any suggestion that he spoke to Dier about moving to Manchester.

"I don't know if it is Mauricio's words, I don't know if it is his ghostwriter. I really don't know," the United manager said.

"What I know is that every season during the summer, even before the summer, Mauricio calls me, I call Mauricio about my players - available, not available - so I don't know why I should be [talking to Dier] in a football match, in the tunnel. Maybe it is to try to sell books, maybe his ghostwriter wants to make some money."

Dier was linked with a move to Old Trafford during the most recent transfer window, with Mourinho prioritising central midfield as one of four positions to strengthen. Tottenham, though, stood firm and refused to sell Dier at any price, with United ultimately signing Nemanja Matic for £40m from Chelsea.

Mourinho refused to confirm or deny United's interest in Dier but did claim that once he was aware of Matic's availability, the Serbia international was always his first-choice target.

"I have the player that I want to have," Mourinho said. "I probably have the player I did not think it was possible to have but in the end we got the player I really wanted."

Tottenham's visit sees United return to Premier League action for the first time since last Saturday's 2-1 reverse at Huddersfield Town, their first defeat of the season.

Mourinho criticised the attitude of his players after the final whistle at the John Smith's Stadium and paid particular attention to comments made by midfielder Ander Herrera, who admitted that he and has team-mates were not as "passionate" and "aggressive" as their hosts.

"I heard Ander Herrera in his flash [television] interview saying the attitude and desire was poor," the United manager said in his post-match press conference. "Oh my God, when a player says that, or a player feels that, I think they should all go to the press conference and explain why – because I cannot explain that."

Despite appearing to have condemned Herrera's candour, Mourinho claimed on Friday that he was actually "happy" with the midfielder's reaction to the defeat and denied reports that he was particularly critical of some squad members after the game.

"I was surprised but happy about his words because it's not easy for the players to recognise and admit," he said. "It shows dignity, it shows character and shows intelligence to know the reason why we lost the match.

"Contrary to some imaginary sources that tells you everything we do here, I can promise you that since that match I didn't speak one single second about the match, because no need. No need.

"After Ander's words and the feelings of all the players, I don't need speak about the words. Please, don't pay [attention] to the sources."