Xavi caused heads to turn at Spurs this week when the former Barcelona captain suggested that Dele Alli would be a player who would suit the style of football Pep Guardiola wants to play at Man City.
The 37-year-old, now playing with Qatari side Al Sadd, told The Sun that Alli is a special player and that though Spurs would likely be unwilling to sell the midfielder, Man City's wallet could be too big for Daniel Levy and Co. to turn down.
Technically he is the sort of player that Pep likes, the sort of player that suits the style of game that Pep likes his teams to play.
I am sure it is not going to be a player that Tottenham will want to let go, but we know Manchester City have big resources.
Not only has Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino dismissed the speculation, he also detailed (quotes via The Times) why he believes Xavi raised the possibility of Alli moving to Man City.
It comes down to two factors according to the Argentinian: firstly, Xavi hates him as he played for Barcelona's local rivals Espanyol. Secondly, Xavi wants to help his old boss Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.
He’s in a period when he loves to talk. He was a Barcelona player, he’s my enemy. He tried to destroy our focus to win because he hates me because he’s Barcelona.
I know him very well. He is working for Manchester City, maybe? He wants to help Guardiola .
Pochettino did not cease talking about Xavi with the dismissal of the Alli speculation.
He also told of how he recently reminisced with Thierry Henry about how the Spaniard won a penalty while playing for Barcelona against the Pochettino-managed Espanyol in 2009.
Yesterday there was Thierry here and we remembered the game that he [Xavi] cheated the referee. He fell down, it wasn’t a penalty, but [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic scored for Barcelona and they won. After, in the video, it was very funny because no one touched him and everyone in the media was saying, ‘No, no trust me — it was a penalty.’ Come on! It goes from lie to lie to lie.
