Former Chelsea and West Ham United defender Scott Minto has praised Spurs midfielder Dele Alli for the route he took through the English Football League in order to reach the top level.
Alli signed for Spurs from League One side MK Dons back in the 2015 winter transfer window for just £5million (BBC Sport) and was loaned back to MK Dons for the remainder of the season.
He took the Premier League by storm during his first season at Spurs claiming an impressive ten goals and nine assists from just 33 Premier League appearances (Transfermarkt).
He has since gone on to establish himself as one of the best players in the division with his tally currently standing at 59 goals and 52 assists from 199 senior appearances for Spurs , while he also has 37 England caps to his name despite being just 23 years of age (Transfermarkt).
While he didn’t start the current season in the best of form, he has once again returned to his old self since the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Tottenham.
Speaking about Alli, Minto told the EFL website, “For me, Dele Alli is an excellent example. There are many similar examples to show that you can start at a club in the EFL and as long as that club has the right attitude, the right academy and development strategy, you can certainly do what he has done.
“He’s come through the EFL, playing games early on in his career, learning while playing men’s football and then developing his talents that way. When you’re playing men’s football, you’re in amongst it, and you have to deal with it. That is how I grew up as a player all those years ago, and it didn’t do me any harm.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I felt a lot of the criticism Dele was getting in the past year or so was extremely unfair on him as he suffered his fair share of injury problems. Mourinho has done the right thing by moving him back to the No.10 role which is clearly his best position.
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