Only thing Fergie urged me to do at United was buy Alli

JOSE MOURINHO has revealed the one piece of advice Sir Alex Ferguson gave him as Manchester United boss was to sign Dele Alli.

The former MK Dons player had been snapped up by Tottenham and made an encouraging start to life in the Premier League.

In a conversation with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, aired as part of the Amazon Prime All or Nothing documentary released on Monday, Mourinho recalls discussing taking the midfielder to Old Trafford.

He said: “Sir Alex Ferguson gave me only one piece of advice in two and a half years, ‘Buy Dele Alli. That mentality, the way he plays, the aggression he has in his mind – he is a United player. Buy Dele Alli’. “And he has an eye for players.” The Portuguese ignored him and went for Paul Pogba instead in the summer of 2016. Since then, the England player has scored 40 Premier League goals to Pogba’s 25.

But by the time Mourinho arrived atWhite Hart Lane last November the goals had dried up for Alli.

The Spurs manager expressed concerns that Alli was no longer a good trainer. “Not a disaster, but not Harry Kane either,” he told Levy. Alli was told in no uncertain terms to buck up his ideas.

“Maybe, inside, you are telling me to f*** off, but I have to tell you exactly what I see,” Mourinho said.

“I have no doubts about your potential. I saw you do incredible things in incredible matches.

“But there is a huge difference between a player who has consistency and a player who has moments.”