"He apologised to me for calling me lazy" - Dele recalls Jose Mourinho incident at Tottenham in tell-all interview with Gary Neville
Everton midfielder Dele opened up about his struggles with mental health issues, fighting addiction, and much more in a recent interview with Gary Neville. The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder recalled an incident with former Spurs manager, Jose Mourinho.
In the Amazon Prime documentary All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur, which focused on the club's 2019-20 season, Mourinho called Dele lazy in a one-on-one chat with the player.
However, Dele clarified in the recent interview with Neville that Mourinho apologised to him later on.
Speaking about the incident, Dele said:
"I’m glad you asked me about that. So that lazy comment people all love to bring that up, that interview obviously that was on Amazon. He called me lazy – that was the day after recovery day. A week later, he apologised to me for calling me lazy because he’d seen me actually train and play. But that wasn’t in the documentary, and no one spoke up about that because it was only me and him."
"In the team meeting, he called me lazy but then one on one, I think it was on the pitch he apologised for it. And I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I know myself – I’m not lazy."
The 27-year-old revealed that he even thought about retiring from football during Mourinho's spell at Spurs. He also told Neville that he is in a much better frame of mind now than he was in the last couple of years.
Dele speaks out about retirement thoughts during Mourinho's stint at Spurs
Dele suffered some of his worst footballing years under the reign of Jose Mourinho at Tottenham. The midfielder spoke about having thoughts of retirement at the age of just 24, when the Portuguese tactician dropped the player.
Speaking about the incident to Gary Neville in an interview for The Overlap, Dele said:
"Probably the saddest moment for me, was when Mourinho was manager, I think I was 24. I remember just looking in the mirror - I mean it sounds dramatic but I was literally staring in the mirror - and I was asking if I could retire now, at 24, doing the thing I love."
During Mourinho's second season at Spurs in 2020-21, Dele scored just three goals and provided five assists from his 29 appearances. He started just seven league games for the club.
However, the English midfielder emphasized that he does not blame Mourinho for the decline in his mental health.