Eric Dier breaks silence on Jose Mourinho conversation that angered Mauricio Pochettino
ERIC DIER has finally revealed what happened after he was caught chatting to Jose Mourinho last season.
Mauricio Pochettino was left seething when the midfielder embraced the Portuguese boss in the tunnel following United's win over Spurs.
In Pochettino's new book, he said Mourinho and Dier passed him 'laughing and speaking in Portuguese' and labelled the incident as a 'Mourinho tactic.'
As a result, the England ace was called into the Pochettino's office for a lengthy chat to discuss the matter.
He has now explained what really happened after talking with the Portuguese boss in December 2016.
He said: "The book is a very honest account, and it's nice for fans to have the insight about what goes on.
"This was last Christmas. The book has come out now, so it has resurfaced, but for a long time my relationship with the manager has been great. It's always been very great."
"We were talking for a very long time. And all of that week, really, we were in constant dialogue. It was a difficult week for me.
CHAMPIONS LEAD Eric Dier out walking his dogs and grabbing lunch with a friend after Tottenham beat Real Madrid at Wembley
"The managers point of view was [the friendliness with Mourinho] was disrespectful to him.
"[The dialogue] was more him getting that message across than me getting my message across.
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Manchester United have been previously linked with the midfielder, but the 23-year-old insists his relationship with Pochettino is stronger than ever.
He added: "I grew up in Portugal. Portuguese people are very proud and it's a small country.
"It doesn't have the economic power of a country such as England, so people like Mourinho, Ronaldo, they're extremely proud of it.
"Growing up there I was within all that, you know? I didn't want to be disrespectful to anyone.
"I completely understand where the manager was coming from but I believe I was stuck in the middle of something I couldn't really affect."
