Gary Vincent Mabbutt is an English former footballer who made over 750 professional appearances, first for Bristol Rovers and then for Tottenham Hotspur (619).

Gary Vincent Mabbutt MBE (born 23 August 1961) is an English former footballer who made over 750 professional appearances, first for Bristol Rovers and then for Tottenham Hotspur (619), despite being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes aged 17. But that didn't stop him from having a wonderful career. During his career he played 16 times for the England national team. He played mainly in central defense but was a footballer who had the advantage of being able to be used with particular success in midfield where he excelled there as well, winning both the UEFA Cup in 1984 and the FA Cup in 1991, both with Tottenham.

Mabbutt is best remembered for his 16 years at Tottenham, where he played from 1982 to 1998, and captained the team for 11 years from 1987 to 1998. He has lived with Type 1 diabetes since he was 17. This is not prevented Gary Mabbutt in 1982 from becoming the first diabetic to play for England and captaining Tottenham to the FA Cup in 1991. Now 63, Mabbutt is manager of Tottenham and was in Monte Carlo to speak exclusively on Manos Staramopoulos, editor-in-chief of  Discoveryfootball.com

DF: Do  you see the Premier League developing this year? Will we have the same story again with Manchester City dominating or can someone else beat them?

R/: "It is a fact that Manchester City has a wonderful team with a number of important players who can decide a match at any time. What to say about De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Rodri or Haaland. They are all first line footballers. But to talk about the champion, it is quite early. There are also unpredictable factors that no one can know…”

DF: Is there a possibility that we will have a possible punishment of the City with the 116 financial violations?

R/: "Nobody can know that. The Independent Disciplinary Committee will look into it and judge…”

DF: Tottenham with Angelos Postecoglou in the season that ended, made a very good run and ensured their exit to the Europa League. For the new season, what do you think he can achieve?

R/: "The management in collaboration with Postecoglou have done a very good job and now I believe that he can claim something better, namely an exit to the Champions League. Of course he will give his best in the hope that he can go even higher."

DF: Let's go to the Champions League now. Here which teams do you think will fight hard to reach the final in May in Munich?

R/:  "Real Madrid for sure, as well as Manchester City, Bayern, Liverpool who we all want to see how they will do with their new Dutch coach, Arne Slott. And of course, it is not excluded that some other team will appear, which we are not currently counting on..."

DF: How do you judge the 17th European Championship, is the dominance of the Spanish national team fair?

R/: "Yes, we have to admit that as much as we don't mind that England didn't make it, it was absolutely fair that De La Fuente's Spain took the top spot.."

DF: The young, Yamal is the star of the next 10 years, the successor of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

R/: "Not only Bellingham, I believe he has all the foundations to reach very high. Of course, Vinicius was also excellent with Real Madrid..."