Kieran Trippier has insisted that Tottenham may have defeated Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final if the club hadn't sold Mousa Dembele.
The veteran midfielder joined Chinese Super League club Guangzhou R&F for £11million in January 2019, less than six months before the two teams would meet at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.
Liverpool famously ran out 2-0 winners on June 1, with goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi earning them a sixth European Cup.
But Trippier believes Dembele's presence could have helped Tottenham secure what would have been an historic Champions League title.
"They've (Liverpool) got quality players, but, for me, the little fine margins of winning something is obviously when Mousa left. That's my opinion," Trippier told The Beautiful Game podcast.
"As a player, you don't want to see a player like Mousa leave, especially in January. Unless there was something that he needed to leave or whatever, I honestly don't know.
"It didn't make sense because he's the fine margins of winning you the Champions League final. That's how good he was.
"He could have three players around him, and you could give him the ball. The amount of respect the players had for him, and to see a player like that leave in January when you are going through a difficult season, for me, it didn't make sense.
"That's just my opinion. I don't want to speak on any of the players' thoughts on that.
"As soon as he goes it just saps it out of you because you've lost Mousa Dembele."
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