- Rob Fleming
- 10 November 2023
Sean Dyche taps into Dele Alli's tactical wisdom as forward rehabilitates at Everton
Sean Dyche is keen to tap into Dele Alli's experience and tactical knowledge while the forward remains out of action for Everton.
Dele Alli is a midfielder for Everton in the Premier League and has also played for the England national team.
He joined Spurs in 2015 after progressing through MK Dons' academy, and managed to break into the England senior team whilst at the north London club.
Alli enjoyed a lot of success during his first couple of years for Tottenham. He won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in back-to-back campaigns for 2015/16 and 2016/17. For his performances in them two years he was also named in the PFA Team of the Year.
But his Spurs career went off the boil during the 2020/21 season, and after failing to secure a regular first team berth with new Spurs manager Antonio Conte he was sold to Everton in January 2022.
He also failed to impress at Everton, and just seven months into his stay on Merseyside he was loaned out to Super Lig club Besiktas in August 2022 but again struggled to reach hsi previous career heights.
Early career at MK Dons
Alli first rose to prominence with MK Dons in the football league. He made his debut during the 2012/13 when he was 16 years old.
He became a regular for them in 2013/14 before enjoying a standout season in 2014/15.
He netted 16 goals and 11 assists for them that year, including being part of MK Dons historic 4-0 FA Cup victory over Manchester United, which subsequently attracted interest from top clubs around Europe.
Tottenham beat competition to sign him for an initial fee of £5m. He re-joined MK Dons on loan for the rest of the season before he linked up with the Spurs first team at the start of the 2015/16 campaign.
Dele Alli and Spurs
Alli started the season on the fringes of the first-team squad, but a few impressive showings earned him a regular starting spot for Tottenham.
It proved to be a fantastic season for Alli, as he scored 10 goals and 11 assists in all competitions. This was highlighted by a superb goal against Crystal Palace in January 2016, that won that season's BBC Goal of the Season award.
His form was rewarded with an improved contract in January and at the end of the season he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
His form stepped up to another level in 2016/17, as he was among the top scorers in the league with 18, as he also notched nine assists.
Spurs finished second in the Premier League behind
Chelsea, which was their highest placed finish since the 1962/63 campaign. Alli was again named in the PFA Team of the Year for his showings and he also won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award for the second year running.
The 2017/18 campaign was another strong season for Spurs, as they finished third, seven points clear of Chelsea in fifth. Alli shone again with 14 goals and 17 assists in all competitions.
Alli's form dipped slightly in 2018/19 in a historic season for Spurs. The midfielder got two assists in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Ajax as Spurs went through to the final for the first time ever. This was a great run for the club and a lot of it was down to the work done by Mauricio Pochettino, who got the best out of Alli throughout their time working together.
Tottenham could not kick on from reaching the Champions League final, as Pochettino left the club in November 2019. Alli started positively under new boss, Jose Mourinho, who operated him in the attacking midfield. But he was out of the team as the season came to a conclusion.
Alli and Mourinho were featured heavily in the recent 'All or Nothing' Tottenham documentary, in which Alli was berated by his boss for being a bad trainer. Mourinho did praise his quality, but his game time decreased massively while Mourinho was in charge.
New Spurs manager Nuno Espírito Santo reinstated Alli to the first team for the start of the 2021/22 season, but after six games dropped him and left him on the bench for the remaining games in his short tenure in charge.
Antonio Conte took the reins in November and rarely used Alli, eventually letting him leave for Everton on the last day of the January transfer window.
Move to Everton
At Goodison Park, Alli only played a limited role under Frank Lampard, with the Toffees fighting for Premier League survival.
He made just 11 appearances for Everton in the 2021/22 season, mostly from the bench, as the club just avoided relegation from the Premier League.
Two substitute appearances was the sum total of the 2022/23 season in an Everton shirt, before Besiktas came calling.
But he struggled in Turkey, scoring twice in 13 games before returning to Everton in April 2023 with an injury that required surgery. He also admitted he needed help with his mental health and checked into a clinic in the United States.
Dele Alli and England
Alli picked up numerous caps at youth level for England between 2012 and 2015. He earned his first call-up by Gareth Southgate for the U-21 side in September 2015. It was reported earlier in the year that John Fashanu tried to persuade Alli to play internationally for Nigeria, but he opted to play for England in the end.
In October 2015 he was called into the senior squad by Roy Hodgson. He came on as a late substitute against Estonia at Wembley to pick up his first senior cap.
His first goal for his country came in his first start, as he earned his fourth cap against France. Alli opened the scoring before
Wayne Rooney doubled their advantage in the second half.
While he was shining for Tottenham, he was a regular in the England team, which included appearances in each of England's disappointing Euro 2016 campaign. Alli continued to be selected right through to the 2018 World Cup, which proved to be a success for the Three Lions.
England reached the semi-final stage, but they were knocked out of the competition after a 2-1 extra-time defeat to Croatia. Alli scored a pivotal goal in England's quarter-final against Sweden. Harry Maguire opened the scoring before Alli secured the win with a header in the second half.
With his game time for Tottenham decreasing, Alli started to be left out of the England squad. This came at the same time as the likes of Mason Mount, Jack Grealish and James Maddison's reputations grew and they began to force their way in Southgate's squad.
Alli was left out of England's Euro 2020 qualifiers in October 2019, and has yet to make an appearance for the national side since September 2019.
Sexual abuse, addiction and mental health struggles
In July 2023, Alli revealed he was sexually abused at the age of six and was dealing drugs two years later - while a recent fight against a sleeping pill addiction led to a six-week stay at a rehab clinic.
He laid bare his difficult upbringing before he was adopted by the Hickford family - saying he was "molested" at the age of six.
Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap podcast, Alli said: "(Childhood) is something I haven't really spoken about that much, to be honest.
"My mum was an alcoholic. I was sent to Africa (to stay with his father) to learn discipline, and then I was sent back. At seven, I started smoking, eight I started dealing drugs.
"Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate. Twelve, I was adopted - and from then, I was adopted by an amazing family - I couldn't have asked for better people to do what they'd done for me. If God created people, it was them.
"There were a number of times my adopted family and my brother - you know, it makes me sad - they would take me to rooms crying, asking me to just speak to them, tell them what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling, and I just couldn't do it because I wanted to deal with it by myself."
Alli battled in silence off the pitch - leading to a "scary" addiction to sleeping pills and a reliance on alcohol.
"I got addicted to sleeping tablets and it's probably a problem that not only I have, I think it's something that's going around more than people realise in football," he said.
"I think, without me realising it - the things I was doing to numb the feelings I had…I didn't realise I was doing it for that purpose, whether it be drinking or whatever.
"I don't want to talk about numbers but it was definitely way too much, and there were some scary moments I had.
"To take a sleeping tablet and be ready for the next day is fine, but when you're broken as I am, it can obviously have the reverse effect because it does work for the problems you want to deal with.
"That is the problem - it works until it doesn't. So yes, I definitely abused them too much. It is scary, now I'm out of it and I look back on it.
"Probably the saddest moment for me, was when (Jose) Mourinho was (Tottenham) manager, I think I was 24. I remember there was one session, like one morning I woke up and I had to go to training - this is when he'd stopped playing me - and I was in a bad place.
"I mean it sounds dramatic but I was literally staring in the mirror - and I was asking if I could retire now, at 24, doing the thing I love. For me, that was heart-breaking to even have had that thought at 24, to want to retire. That hurt me a lot, that was another thing that I had to carry."
Alli returned to England from his loan spell in Turkey with an injury that required surgery he knew he needed help, checking into a clinic in the United States.
"When I came back from Turkey, I came in and I found out that I needed an operation and I was in a bad place mentally and I decided to go to like a modern-day rehab facility for mental health," he said.
"I was caught in a bad cycle. I was relying on things that were doing me harm and I think I was waking up every day and I was winning the fight, you know; going into training, smiling, showing that I was happy.
"But inside, I was definitely losing the battle and it was time for me to change it because when I got injured and they told me I needed surgery, I could feel the feelings I had when the cycle begins and I didn't want it to happen any more.
"They deal with like addiction, mental health, and trauma because it was something that I felt like it was time for.
"I think with things like that, you can't be told to go there, I think you have to know, and you have to make the decision yourself, otherwise it's not going to work.
"I went there for six weeks and Everton were amazing about it. They supported me 100 per cent and I'll be grateful to them forever…I was probably making the biggest decision of my life - something I was scared to do.
"But I'm happy I've done it and to be honest, I couldn't of expected it to go the way it did."
Dele Alli's personal life
Alli was born in Milton Keynes, England. His father, Kehinde, is of Nigerian descent, but his mother Denise is originally from England. He had a difficult childhood, as he moved to Nigeria when he was nine while his mother was struggling with alcohol issues. He was there for two years before he returned to Milton Keynes.
When he was 13, he started to live with Alan and Sally Hickford, who he refers to as his 'adoptive parents'. As a result, Alli decided a few years ago to start using just 'Dele' on his shirt with him feeling like he did not have any connection to the Alli family name.
Alli has been dating model Cindy Kimberly since summer 2022.
The Spurs midfielder also does a lot of charity work, especially with Magic Breakfast, who work with underprivileged children to provide them with breakfasts. Earlier in 2020 Alli and his other Tottenham teammates worked to raise money for Noah's Ark Children's Hospice.
Net worth
Alli's net worth is believed to be around £25m and he earns £100,000 per week at Everton.
Alli is represented by CAA Base Ltd, which is a player agency. They work with some of the world's best players including Heung-min Son, Raphael Varane and Kyle Walker. He is sponsored by Adidas and this deal has seen him included in several of their adverts in recent years.
