Mauricio Pochettino wouldn't trade Dele Alli for the world... now.
England and Tottenham star Dele has revealed how his boss wasn't convinced of his talent when he first arrived at White Hart Lane.
He claims his manager 'didn't like him' when he made the big move from MK Dons, as Football.London reports.
Alli, who was only 19 years old when he joined Spurs, said he had no idea what the manager's initial opinion of him was.
"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," he recalls to Guillem Balague for 'Inside Pochettino's Spurs' .
"It was really hard and I didn’t know what he thought of me. The first proper one-on-one was with Jesus [Perez].
"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 paused for like a second, and he said '...but now he loves you'."
The 21-year-old enjoyed a stellar season for Spurs last campaign, netting 22 goals in all competitions to help his side finish second in the Premier League.
But the midfielder has failed to hit the ground running this time around, and landed himself in controversy when he was handed a retrospective ban by Fifa for raising his middle finger during England’s 2-1 World Cup qualifying win for Slovakia.
He was also criticised for diving in Tottenham’s win over Huddersfield and for his on-field temper, but says Pochettino does not want him to change.
"The season before last, there was a bit in the media about me, when everyone was saying I was losing my temper," he said.
"He pulled me into his office and talked about himself as a player, and showed me some clips of him on YouTube, very aggressive.
"He’s scored some goals as well, and told me I need to have a look at some so I can improve my finishing. He’s better than everyone!
"In his chats, he insists we all have to want it, there are no excuses for being tired and stuff. He does push everyone all the time.
"At Palace [in January 2016] I made it 2–1 in the last 10 minutes. I watched the goal back and saw that he had run all the way down the line and was involved in the hug. I had not realised.
"Do I upset him? Yeah, all the time. A few weeks ago we were doing some shape work and I was a bit annoyed, not at him but just with some stuff.
"I was walking in and looking at the floor and he told me to lift my head up and smile.
"Later, he pulled me into his office and talked to me about how if I’m not being happy and positive it can have an effect on everyone. I didn’t realise how much."