Spurs’ Vertonghen hails special and humble Dembele

Not only does Jan Vertonghen class Mousa Dembele as one of his greatest friends, he also believes his Spurs team-mate is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

Vertonghen and Dembele have followed remarkably similar paths in their professional careers, first meeting at the age of 12 while playing for Belgian side Germinal Beerschot before coming across each other in their teenage years, albeit for Amsterdam rivals Ajax and AZ Alkmaar respectively.

The more they saw each other the greater the bond between them grew, first becoming good friends while playing internationally for Belgium before signing for Tottenham within two months of each other in 2012.

Vertonghen acknowledges he is not only lucky to have forged such a close relationship with his team-mate, but also to be playing alongside someone he rates very highly as a player.

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

He said: “I don’t think people know how good Mousa is. You can ask every single player in the team and I don’t think they can describe how good he is.

“You only know if you play with him or against him, or see him train for a couple of weeks, then you find out.

“He’s a special player and I can’t think of anyone else who is a bit like him. For me, he’s up there with the best two or three midfielders in the league.

“He’s a very humble guy, that’s one of his main characteristics. He’s a very special player and I certainly prefer to play with him than against him.”