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Dele Alli gesture played down by Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino

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Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has played down the importance of Dele Alli's gesture while away on England duty

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has played down the controversy surrounding Dele Alli’s obscene gesture while on international duty.

The Spurs playmaker made a hand gesture during England's 2-1 World Cup Qualifier victory over Slovakia at Wembley on Monday and FIFA is in the process of "gathering evidence" on the issue before deciding what action, if any, to take.

But speaking ahead of Tottenham's Premier League trip to Everton on Saturday, Pochettino insisted it was "not a big issue for us".

"I am not worried, I think it was [in] the heat of the media afterwards," he said. "It's important to move on, when you're young, it was a joke with a teammate.

"It is true it is not a fantastic gesture but I don't think it is a big issue, although it was a shock in the moment.

"I remember when I was a player, worse things happened on the pitch, but today there are a lot of cameras and we are so focused on the player."

Alli said after the match it had been directed humorously at Kyle Walker, not referee Clement Turpin, while Walker later continued the joke by posting a well-known video of 'Mr Bean' repeatedly making the gesture from his car.

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"Look at Mr Bean, no? All the people laugh about that and Dele was joking with Kyle Walker too. Come on. We need to censor Mr Bean," Pochettino said.

"I respect every single opinion but from my point of view, there is nothing wrong from Dele. He is improving a lot. I am so happy with him. His behaviour is improving a lot."

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Pochettino expressed his delight at bringing right-back Serge Aurier to the club from Paris Saint-Germain.

Aurier moved to Spurs for £23m on transfer Deadline Day, with the Ivory Coast international set to challenge Kyle Walker-Peters and Kieran Trippier as the replacement for Kyle Walker after he joined Manchester City.

"Serge is a player with a lot of experience in Europe. Last season he was playing with Paris Saint-Germain, in the Champions League," added Pochettino.

"It will be good competition for Kyle and Trippier in that position. It is a position we need to improve and I am happy.

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"He is still young, only 24, but with a lot of experience. Now it is important he arrives here and adapts with the new squad as is the Premier League is completely different to Ligue 1."

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