In the summer of 2012, Dimitar Berbatov was waiting to board a flight to Florence when his phone began to ring. On the end of the line was Martin Jol, his old Tottenham Hotspur manager, who was now in charge of Fulham.

Berbatov was leaving Manchester United, and Jol was desperate to lure him back to London. “I had to do a lot of talking,” Jol remembers. “He was ready to go to Fiorentina, and I had to talk him out of it.”

Berbatov, curious but by no means convinced, had one simple question. Is Mousa Dembele staying? “Of course Dembele is staying,” Jol replied enthusiastically, knowing that his answer could make or break the deal.

It did not quite work out like that, and Dembele soon signed for Spurs. A few days after Berbatov had committed to joining Fulham, Jol joked that they were lucky the Bulgarian had not stormed out of the building once he had learned of Dembele’s departure.

Berbatov’s appreciation of Dembele’s class, and his disappointment at not being able to call him a team-mate, is indicative of how highly the midfielder is regarded by those within the game, even if it has taken starring roles in recent performances against Arsenal and Juventus for wider recognition to finally come his way.