Roberto Firmino says Moussa Sissoko is among the best players in the Premier League, an opinion that will likely come as a surprise to Tottenham fans.
Sissoko joined Spurs from Newcastle United in the summer of 2016 for a fee in the region of £30 million.
The Frenchman struggled to settle in his first season at the club, making 34 appearances in all competitions – mostly from the bench.
But Sissoko has become a more trusted member of the squad this term, playing 40 times and scoring two goals.
That said, his overall ability is still questioned by Tottenham fans on a regular basis, as is Mauricio Pochettino’s faith in the 28-year-old.
In an interview with Goal, Firmino said: “We have great players in English football, it’s hard to select one as the outright best.
“That’s why it’s the most popular league with many quality teams. We can talk about the goalscorers Salah and Harry Kane.
“We also have Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan in Manchester City, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku at Manchester United, Moussa Sissoko and Mousa Dembele at Tottenham, Willian and Eden Hazard at Chelsea, Mesut Ozil at Arsenal.”
Sissoko is certainly the surprise name among Firmino’s list, and many Spurs supporters will be wondering if he has mistaken the midfielder for somebody else.
Or perhaps Firmino has only watched a select few Tottenham matches, the ones in which Sissoko has sporadically shown his value.
Alas, we’ll never know.
He obviously watches a lot of games on TV …NOT!
Maybe he meant Eriksen and Dembele?
Look, Sissoko does have it in him to be a game changer or,
at least, a genuine influence in games. But so far, he
hasn’t justified his £30m fee and it’s frustrating ..but then again,
we’re waiting on Lamela to justify that similar fee too. Signs are good for
both tho’ ..if not exactly Salah-like.
He said it because they used to play together at Newcastle and at the time Sissoko was one of their best players. I can even remember back then way before we were ever linked with him some of our fans even said we should sign him…
Wtf am i talking about!? I thought i read Gini Wijnaldum, not Roberto Firmino lol
Poch sees him as a singular talent, unique, in fact. He is the player who translates defence into attack and vice versa. Sadly, his work goes unappreciated by many ‘fans’ and pundits who simply don’t understand the subtlety and complexity of football.
Not by this fan, he reads the game perfectly& his work rate & organising ability is top class. Watch him next time he plays, directs players all the time
Re Lamela, have a look at the game at the Liberty stadium, f a cup.
a very good player that can fit in manu squad