What next for Dele Alli?

Dele Alli – An Enigma

This weekend sees top-of-the-table Tottenham Hotspur travel to Selhurst Park, taking on a Crystal Palace side who are winless in the ten previous league meetings between the pair.

Both sides come into the fixture on the back of positive results last weekend, with Spurs comfortable victors in the North London Derby against Arsenal and Palace dispatching West Brom, scoring five away from home for the first time ever in the top division. 

But this fixture is synonymous with one particular goal, a goal that is incredibly underrated in the annals of the Premier League, a goal scored by the current forgotten man – Dele Alli. 

Close control, a divine flick over the wandering Mile Jedinak, and a sumptuous volley into the bottom corner helped Spurs on their way to three points in 2016,

Four years on, the English midfielder who had the world at his feet, can’t even get off the bench against Royal Antwerp in the Europa League. Is there any way back for Alli at Spurs. If not, what’s next?

It’s January 23rd 2016. Spurs are drawing 1-1 away at Crystal Palace and need some divine inspiration to make ground on table-topping Leicester City. Up steps Dele Alli.

It was a piece of brilliance lauded over for days, likened to Paul Gascoigne, Hoddle and other English greats who have graced the Tottenham midfield.  The next weekend he backed it up with another goal at Norwich City and ended the season in the PFA Team of the Year. 

Big things were expected of Alli and continually good performances did nothing to dissipate the enthusiasm. His following season was even better, netting 18 Premier League goals and adding nine further assists to his tally.

While no trophy has materialised, Alli’s ability, determination and creative spark ensured some of football’s biggest names were keeping close tabs on him. 

Wind forward almost five years. It’s December 10th 2020. Spurs are winning 1-0 against Royal Antwerp in the Europa League. Manager, Jose Mourinho makes a number of substitutes. Dele Alli is not one of them. 

It has been the story of his 2020/21 season so far but Dele has barely played for Spurs, featuring in only two Premier League games out of 11 so far. 

But Thursday night felt like the nadir, the straw that broke the camel’s back, as Dele was seen looking miserable in the stands while Mourinho chose Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane and Steven Bergwijn amongst others from the bench. 

And the Portuguese manager accepted after the game that Alli was unlikely to be content with the current situation.

“A player on the bench who realises all five subs have been used of course is not a happy player and I would not expect him to be happy.”

But for Alli, what’s next? How can he drag himself out from a career that appears to be stagnating? 

If rumours are to be believed, Spurs seem happy for the English midfielder to seek first team football elsewhere on a loan deal. 

There are mutterings on the grapevine that PSG would be interested in acquiring his services, alongside a number of other foreign parties and it would probably be a situation that favours both. 

Perhaps what Alli needs is fresh impetus, a change of scenery. Like Pochettino, who appeared to stall in his final year with Spurs, it seems that Dele has also hit the brakes, and hard. 

Often players find a new challenge stimulating, reinvigorating something that was lost. As for Alli, there still feels like there’s a lot of unlocked potential. 

It would be a great shame if we’ve already seen the best of Alli.

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@NathanJacobs7