Davinson Sanchez has always been impervious to criticism, even when it comes from one of the most famous managers in the world.

Jose Mourinho’s ideas tend to stick and Sanchez has never quite been free of the suggestion he is uncomfortable on the ball since the Portuguese revealed Manchester United targeted the then-Ajax defender in their Europa League Final win in 2017.

Reminded of Mourinho’s remark, Sanchez laughed.

“A different opinion!” he told Standard Sport. “I know about it and my reaction was, ‘Give me the ball to play now!’ Not to show him, just to do my job. That experience puts me in a better position to be here and see how life is.”

From defying his parents to join Atletico Nacional as a teenager to rejecting a move to Barcelona three years later, Sanchez has always been able to ignore outside noise and go his own way.

If he can laugh off criticism from Mourinho, downbeat opinions on Tottenham’s worst spell in six years are unlikely to have much of an impact on the 23-year-old. Sanchez is conscious that his own form, like the team’s, has been patchy, particularly since his breakthrough maiden season, and he insists supporters are still yet to see the best of him.

“Not yet, I definitely can say that,” said the centre-half, who joined Spurs from Ajax nearly two-and-a-half years ago.

“There are many things to improve. I’m not nearly a perfect player, that’s why I need to keep going.

“I’m not a guy on my phone reading about what supporters say about you. You can find many things there and you’re not going to be happy! I respect their position, but I realise that it’s not always a good day. I’m human. I have bad games, I have bad moments, but that’s me. I cannot stay on the floor, knocked out. I have to keep going.”

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Sanchez approaches every situation with the same open-minded determination, be it a half-term community coaching session in torrential rain or deputising out-of-position at right-back.

With Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino short of options, the Colombia international was a surprise pick at full-back for the 2-2 draws at Arsenal and Olympiacos this season and he admits the role does not come naturally. “It was hard,” he said. “I’m not the type of player to beat opponents and arriving [in the final third] is not my best quality. My quality is to defend. Of course, I will give my best for the team. If the gaffer or the team needs me there, I will be there.”

Although he is already part of the furniture at Spurs, it feels as though Sanchez’s time is still to come. He has been in and out of the team since signing in a club-record £42.5million deal in August 2017, making 59 Premier League appearances, largely behind Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.

As he prepares for Sunday’s daunting trip to League leaders Liverpool, Sanchez admits it hurt to have been left out of the starting XI for the Champions League Final defeat to the Reds in June. “It’s hard to not be part of the team because you think you have the capacity to help,” he said. “In the end, I played more than 60 per cent of the games in the tournament, I felt part of the team so I can’t complain.

“If the choice is not my name, I have to agree with the manager. I have to find a way to keep going, I’m not going to stop. I feel like I’m not the same player as when I arrived. I’ve learned so much about the country, the League, the everything.”

With Alderweireld and Vertonghen both out of contract in the summer, Sanchez will surely be a major part of Tottenham’s next phase, the first signs of which were evident in the vibrant 5-0 win over Red Star Belgrade.

With Spurs hoping to become the first side to inflict defeat on Liverpool in the Premier League this season, Sanchez admits they have forgotten how good they are in a run of just four victories in 13 matches since Madrid, but he believes Tuesday night was a turning point. “We need to recover the memory of how good we are,” he said. “It’s about confidence. When you feel your team is doing an alright job, it affects you in a good way.

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“But when it’s not there, you need to be able to say, ‘Come on, wake up, this is not the way we want.’ The last game was very important for us — the way we won the game, the energy we showed.”

Davinson Sanchez was speaking at a Premier League Kicks half-term football session put on by the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, which he joined alongside Tottenham Hotspur Women player, Anna Filbey. The session is one of many delivered to engage local young people in positive activities through sport.