I've heard that his first touch was exceptional, best at the club, which is something I've paid some attention to when watching. It worried me how he seemed to have the worst first touch of everyone on the pitch, but it's gotten better. His dribbling still looks more clumsy than skillful.
To be fair to him, we have (and have had over recent past) some players with an exception first touch.
Ade to me consistently has the worst first touch of any Spurs player (randomly, great -> horrible in space of 30 seconds)