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Publicly criticised by Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham’s late transfer signing Moussa Sissoko hasn’t had the best start to his return to the Premier League since making the jump from Newcastle.

Telling the media the player was falling short of his expectations, the Argentinean manager didn’t even include the 27-year-old in his squad for the London derbies against both West Ham and Chelsea, before reinstating him against Swansea, bringing him on off the bench with 19 minutes to go.

Impressing towards the end of the Euros in France, the right midfielder appears to be one of Didier Deschamps’ favourites, still picking him for his international squad, even when he wasn’t playing for his club.

This was brought up in an interview with the France manager on Monday night on RMC Sport, relayed by FootMercato, who was talking to Christophe Dugarry about the Spurs midfielder.

He said: “There were some who said he shouldn’t have been at the Euros, look at what he did… I’m not here to convince people. For a manager, having Moussa in your group, it’s… He’s a warrior. You can rely on him. We mustn’t say he’s just power and speed.

“When you see what he did during the [Euro] final when he wasn’t in his position. When you don’t have a normal preseason, you pay for it a bit. I know him. He’ll get to work and his quality isn’t even questionable.”

Since joining Tottenham, the former Newcastle star has made 11 appearances for the White Hart Lane contingent, picking up one assist along the way, coming during the 5-0 thumping of Swansea at the weekend.