Dele Alli
Bamidele Jermaine "Dele" Alli is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and is currently a free agent.
Born and raised in Milton Keynes, he joined the youth system at Milton Keynes Dons aged 11 and broke into the first team five years later, during the 2012–13 season. Over the next two and a half years, he made 88 official appearances for the team, scoring 24 goals. He signed for Tottenham Hotspur in February 2015 for an initial fee of £5 million, being loaned back to MK Dons for the remainder of the season. In each of his first two campaigns at Tottenham, Dele was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year and made the PFA Team of the Year. Towards the end of his time at Tottenham, Dele struggled with poor form, injury problems and fallouts with multiple managers. This led him to join Everton in January 2022 and later that year he joined Beşiktaş on loan. Dele left Everton after his contract with Everton expired in July 2024, but continued to work on his fitness at the club's facilities. He joined Serie A club Como under Cesc Fàbregas in January 2025, but made only one appearance for the club, eventually having his contract terminated by mutual agreement in September 2025.
Dele played for the England U17, U18 and U19 teams, before making his senior debut in 2015. He was selected for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, playing a key role in helping England reach the semi-finals.
Club career
Milton Keynes Dons
Early career
Dele joined the youth system at Milton Keynes Dons when he was 11 years old after playing for City Colts. He made his debut for the first team as a sixteen-year-old on 2 November 2012, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Jay O'Shea in a 0–0 draw with Southern Football League club Cambridge City in the FA Cup first round at Milton Road. His first touch in professional football was a back-heeled pass. His first goal came in the replay against Cambridge eleven days later, where he scored in a 6–1 win at Stadium MK on his first start. He made his league debut in a 2–3 defeat to Coventry City at home on 29 December, where he played 71 minutes before being replaced by Zeli Ismail. His only other league appearance in the 2012–13 Football League One season, came as a second-half substitute for Patrick Bamford in the last match of the season, a 2–0 win over Stevenage at Broadhall Way.2013–14 season
The 2013–14 season saw Dele break into the MK Dons first team on a regular basis. He started the Dons' first league match of the season, a 0–0 draw away at Shrewsbury Town. In his first Football League Trophy appearance, Dele scored to help MK Dons beat Northampton Town 2–0 and thus progress to the second round of the tournament. On 28 September, Dele scored his first professional league goal in a 4–1 win against Stevenage. After injury setbacks in late 2013, Dele subsequently established himself as a first-choice player in 2014. He scored the opening goal in the 3–2 win over Shrewsbury Town at Stadium MK on 11 January, with a header from Stephen Gleeson's pinpoint pass.On 11 March 2014, against Notts County at Meadow Lane, aged 17 years and 11 months old, he scored a hat-trick to guide the Dons to a 3–1 victory. His next and final goal of the 2013–14 season, came on 5 April against Coventry City at the Sixfields Stadium; Dele struck a volley from 25 yards out as MK Dons defeated Coventry 2–1. He made 37 appearances in all competitions during the 2013–14 season, scoring seven times, with 33 appearances and six goals in the league.
2014–15 season
With the departure of Gleeson to Birmingham City in June 2014, Dele became the first-choice central midfield partner to Darren Potter. He started the season brightly, playing the first league match of the season as the Dons overcame a 2–0 deficit to defeat Gillingham, 4–2. He then helped the team to a 3–1 win over arch-enemies, AFC Wimbledon, in the League Cup first round. His first goal of the 2014–15 season came in the first away league match, a 3–2 defeat to Peterborough United, where he scored a tap-in from Will Grigg's deflected shot.On 26 August, Dele played the full 90 minutes in the League Cup second round as MK Dons recorded a historic 4–0 win over Manchester United. It was reported that numerous scouts from top clubs across Europe attended the match to watch him play, including representatives from Bayern Munich and Liverpool. In the next match, Dele continued his rich vein of form with a goal curled in from the edge of the box in a 2–0 win over Crawley Town. After the international break, he played 77 minutes in the 5–3 win against Barnsley, assisting the Dons second goal and scoring their third goal himself with a chip over the Barnsley goalkeeper. He was chosen as the Football League Young Player of the Month for August.
On 18 September, Dele extended his contract with MK Dons until June 2017. Two days later, in a match against Crewe Alexandra, he scored a hat-trick and achieved one assist in what turned out to be a 6–1 victory for the Dons. It was the second hat-trick of his career and the first he achieved at home, which also led to him winning the Man of the Match award.
Tottenham Hotspur
On 2 February 2015, Dele signed for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in the last hours of the mid-season transfer window on a five-and-a-half-year deal for an initial fee of £5 million.Loan to Milton Keynes Dons
Following his transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Dele was immediately loaned back to MK Dons for the remainder of the 2014–15 season. On 19 April, he was chosen as the Young Player of the Year at the Football League Awards. The season ended on 3 May with Milton Keynes Dons promoted automatically to the Championship as runners-up behind Bristol City, after a 5–1 home win over relegated Yeovil Town.2015–16 season
On 8 August 2015, Dele made his Tottenham debut against Manchester United in the Premier League as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat away at Old Trafford, playing the last 13 minutes in place of Eric Dier. Two weeks later, he scored his first goal for the club after coming on for Christian Eriksen in the 1–1 draw against Leicester City.On 13 September, Dele made his first start for Tottenham in a 1–0 win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. On 2 November, he started and scored the second goal in an eventual 3–1 win over Aston Villa. Six days later he started his first North London Derby alongside fellow England youngster Dier in central midfield, and was awarded Man of the Match in the 1–1 draw between rivals Arsenal and Tottenham. On 5 December 2015, he scored his third goal for Tottenham in the 2015–16 campaign in a 1–1 draw against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.
Following an impressive start to his Premier League career scoring five goals and making three assists in his first 18 league matches, he was rewarded with a new long-term contract until 2021 on 12 January. Eleven days later he scored a 25-yard volley in a 3–1 win at Crystal Palace; BBC Sport pundit and former Spurs player Garth Crooks wrote "I've seen some glorious goals scored in my time watching football matches but I doubt whether I will see a goal scored with such individual flair, and by a 19-year-old, as Dele Alli's goal at Selhurst Park – it was sheer class". On 13 April, he was named on the six-man shortlist for 2015–16's PFA Young Player of the Year.
On 18 April 2016, he scored his first brace for Tottenham in a 0–4 away win at Stoke City, reaching ten goals in his debut Premier League season. He was voted the season's PFA Young Player of the Year on 24 April. On 28 April, Dele was banned by the Football Association for three matches, effectively ending his Premier League season, for an off-the-ball incident against West Bromwich Albion in which he punched midfielder Claudio Yacob in the stomach. He later apologised for the incident on Twitter, stating, "Gutted that my season is over. Shouldn't have reacted like I did. Will learn from this and come back stronger."
2016–17 season
Ahead of the season, he changed his kit name to Dele, saying that he had "no connection" to his legal surname due to his separation from his mother and lack of relations with his father. His first goal of the season came in a 4–0 win against Stoke City on 10 September 2016. Four days later, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 1–2 loss to AS Monaco at Wembley Stadium. His first Champions League goal came against CSKA Moscow at the same stadium on 7 December 2016. Between 18 December 2016 and 21 January 2017, Dele scored eight goals in six league matches, earning the award of Premier League Player of the Month award for January 2017. This included three consecutive braces against Southampton, Watford and Chelsea.On 23 February, Dele received his first red card for a dangerous tackle on Brecht Dejaegere in Tottenham's UEFA Europa League draw with K.A.A. Gent which saw Spurs eliminated at the Round of 32 stage of the competition. On 20 April 2017, Dele was again named in the PFA Team of the Year, having been included in the League One selection for 2015 and the Premier League selection in 2016. On 23 April, he was named the PFA Young Player of the Year, the day after scoring in Tottenham's 4–2 FA Cup semi-final loss to rivals Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.
2017–18 season
Dele scored his first goal of the season in the opening game of the 2017–18 season away at Newcastle that finished in a 2–0 win. However, he was criticized for his inconsistency this season, failing to perform as well as the previous season. On 1 April 2018, Dele scored twice in the away fixture against Chelsea, helping Tottenham win 3–1, which was their first win in 28 years at Stamford Bridge.2018–19 season
On 11 August 2018, Dele scored his first goal of the season, scoring the winning goal in the opening league match against Newcastle United.On 26 September, Dele was named as captain for Tottenham's EFL Cup third round tie with Watford. The tie, played at Stadium MK due to delays in the completion of Tottenham's new stadium, marked Dele's return to the home ground of his boyhood club Milton Keynes Dons, and the return to his home town of Milton Keynes for the first time as a Tottenham player. The tie finished 2–2, with Dele scoring both a penalty in normal time and the winning penalty in a deciding penalty shoot-out.
In October 2018, Dele signed a new six-year deal at Tottenham, which would keep him at the club until 2024. He also scored in the 3–1 home win against Chelsea, which was his sixth goal in five games against Chelsea, and the first defeat for Chelsea in the Premier League this season. In January 2019, he was ruled out until March with a hamstring injury.