Mourinho grieves after death of ´favourite´ dog at Christmas

Jose Mourinho’s Christmas was ruined by the death of his Yorkshire terrier.

The Tottenham boss was emotional as he announced the dog, Leya, had passed away over the festive period.

Speaking on Amazon Prime before Tottenham played Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Boxing Day, Mourinho spoke of his family’s grief.

He was asked about his Christmas, and told interviewer Jim Rosenthal: “To be honest, it was very sad because my dog died and my dog is my favourite.

“So, very difficult, but we have to move on.”

On playing matters, Mourinho felt Spurs have “shown improvements in some areas, in some others not as much” since his arrival at the club.

Mauricio Pochettino’s successor revealed the club have been “absolutely phenomenal” in helping him settle in.

Asked about possible future transfer activity, Mourinho was keen to see what his current squad could achieve.

“I like the players very much. I like them as players, I like them as the human group they are,” he said.

“Really happy with them and want to give them all I have to give them. I want to improve them. I don’t think it’s fair to look at [transfer] windows and say I need windows.

“I don’t need windows. I need time.”

He said chairman Daniel Levy will acknowledge Tottenham would need to replace any players who leave the club.