Ex-Aston Villa and England striker Gabby Agbonlahor has told Football Insider that he thinks Dele Alli will be hungry to succeed after watching England’s Euro 2020 heroics from home.
The 25-year-old had a very disappointing 2020/2021 season, only accumulating 617 minutes in the Premier League last season without scoring a single goal.
Agbonlahor talked about Dele’s motives heading into the new season: “It’s hard for him after he had a disappointing season.
“It’s all about the relationship he has with Nuno Espirito Santo. If he works hard and listens to his manager then he can definitely have a good season.
The ex-Premier League striker also explained that missing out on the England squad will push Dele forward in the 2021/22 campaign.
He added: “I’m sure he’s going to be hungry. He will see his mates who, for me, are going to win the Euros. He’s going to see that.
“Players like him and James Maddison are going to be even fired up for next season after hopefully seeing their mates win the Euros and doing so well with England.
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“They’ll know now that it’s going to be even harder to get into that England squad now. Gareth Southgate’s going to have even more loyalty to this squad next season, even if they have a few bad games.
“That will be on his mind and he’ll want to come out firing on all cylinders next season.”
Jose Mourinho banished Dele for most of the season and there were even reports of a falling out between the pair. A good number of Dele’s Premier League minutes last season fell in the last five games under interim manager Ryan Mason (TransferMarkt).
The midfielder has posted various photos and videos on his Instagram of him putting in some hard pre-season work in Portugal.
All of the first team squad – minus the players who have been or are still on international duty throughout the summer – have now returned to Hotspur Way today on Tuesday 6 July for the first day of pre-season training under the new manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Dele will be one of the players hoping to impress the new boss as he looks to improve on a rather disappointing last season.
SpursWeb Opinion
Dele was a fantastic player under Pochettino and his demise in a Spurs shirt was very sad to see. A new manager might just be what Dele needs: a fresh start. His posts give the message that he is very hungry and willing to start with a clean slate. Being excluded from the England squad might have been exactly what he needed.
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