Is it just media hype or is Dele Alli really that good?
Now I’m no Tottenham fan but I have seen glimpses of Dele Alli and some of his goals are really special. But is the £50 million quoted by none other than Jamie Redknapp (who isn’t at all biased towards all the teams he’s played for) really right?
It wasn’t so long ago that Alli was turning out for Milton Keynes Dons, earning his crust before being plucked from the lower league depths by Spurs and suddenly being England’s latest Messiah. How all England fans waited with baited breath for the World Cup to come round as surely this was England and Alli’s time to shine. The rest of the world watched, smirking, waiting for it all to fall flat, and man how it all fell flat. Suddenly Alli wasn’t quite the next big thing.
But for Tottenham, Alli is the real deal. I stumbled across a statistic that showed he has more goals and assists in 50 games than Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard put together. This was impressive reading. Alli is a young player who, maybe, is just starting to realise his potential; and at 20 years old he really does have the world at his feet. Redknapp is quoted as saying “how he possesses everything to become one of the best midfield players in the world”. Unfortunately I tend to take everything Redknapp says with a pinch of salt. I mean Alli is a good midfield player, in fact a very good midfield player. He scores goals, he makes goals, but I chuckle when I think of the £50 million price tag placed on him by Redknapp.
Then I think back to some of the delightful goals he has scored. I am sure the majority of us remember his wonder strike against Crystal Palace last season. A lot of fans of other clubs were hoping he would turn out to be a one season wonder, especially some Arsenal fans. But his second top flight season is starting to look even better than his first. He has 10 goals in 19 Premier League games and those stats don’t lie.
At this moment in time there are not many obvious weaknesses that Alli has. Defensively he isn’t the strongest and this is something that he can improve on but, to be honest, I’m just picking holes. He is an attacking midfield and, it pains me to say as I’m not a Spurs fan, that this lad could really be the real deal.
From an England perspective; well no player excels with England and disappears without a trace at each tournament but, for Tottenham, they could have the £50 million player Jamie Redknapp is raving about. If Alli ever goes for £50 million I will eat my hat. I just have a bad feeling I may have the salt and pepper passed to me real quick in the near future.