Harry Redknapp has revealed that he told his nephew Frank Lampard to take a chance on Dele Alli but summed up the former Tottenham man’s time at Everton as a ‘disaster’.
Dele was hoping to get his career back on track after swapping Spurs for the Toffees in January but things did not go according to plan for the midfielder at Goodison Park after he struggled to get into the team.
It came as a shock to many when the 26-year-old completed a loan move to a season-long loan move to Besiktas, just seven months on from joining Everton.
Following the England international’s switch to Turkey, Lampard suggested that the midfielder lacked the focus necessary to be successful at the top level (The Mirror).
Redknapp has now criticised Dele’s attitude during his spell at Merseyside.
The former Tottenham manager told talkSPORT: “I called Frank and said, ‘take the chance on Dele Alli. He’s got fantastic ability and you can get him going. Going to a big club like Everton could give him a big lift’ and Frank said he was down the road already and I said, ‘brilliant, I think he’ll be great for you’.
“He was a disaster, a disaster. I watched him play and he loses the ball, he walks and doesn’t run, I don’t know what’s happened to him. He’s gone to Turkey, where is his career going?
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“He turned up to sign for Everton in a Rolls Royce into a working-class, council area surrounded by old houses painted blue and white where people live for their football. He turned up in a Rolls Royce, who does he think he is?”
Redknapp insisted that the Tottenham man is now running out of time and options to fulfil his undoubted potential.
He added: “I’ve had more arguments and stuck up for him more than anyone but Frank took a gamble on him and it backfired badly and now he’s shipped off to Turkey.
“He was playing for England a few years ago and was one of the best midfield players anywhere. He could have gone to Man United, to Liverpool, to Man City or played for anybody during that time at Tottenham, but he’s lost it. He’s lost that hunger.
“Can he get it back? Why didn’t he get it back at Everton? He’s running out of options I’m afraid”
Spurs Web Opinion
I think Dele now deserves to be left alone. If he has lost the hunger for the game, then I do not think it is fair for us to constantly speculate on why that is the case.
It has been a remarkable fall from grace by the midfielder and he must now show he has the appetite and desire to salvage his career at the highest level.
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