PREMIER LEAGUE referee Mike Dean appeared to mouth ask his assistant “Who the f*** is he?” ahead of Southampton’s win against Tottenham.
Cameras picked up Dean speaking to his assistant referee after shaking hands with a mystery man just before kick-off at St Mary’s.
The man had been at the centre circle with Spurs skipper Harry Kane and Southampton’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
It appears the man, wearing a smart grey coat, was representing one of the match sponsors.
After posing for a photo, the man walks along and shakes the hands of the two players and officials.
Cameras zoomed in on the referee – and it looked like he said “who the f*** is he?” to his lino.
The images were picked up and spread across social media.
Dozens of viewers took to Twitter to call Dean a “legend” and others asked him to “never ever change.”
Dean hit the headlines at the end of the game after showing Spurs boss Jose Mourinho a yellow card.
Mourinho had been caught spying at a tactics board being held on the Southampton bench.
The Portuguese boss, who saw his team lose 1-0 to another Danny Ings goal, was later furious about the incident.
Although he admitted he deserved to be booked.
Mourinho also hit out at Southampton goalkeeping coach Andrew Sparkes.
He told BT Sport: “I was rude. But I was rude with an idiot.
“I clearly deserved the yellow card. I had bad words.”
