Dele Alli was left out of the matchday squad as Tottenham beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. It was the seventh time this season that the 24-year-old has been omitted by Jose Mourinho and it won’t be the last if his latest comments are anything to go by.
Dele was hauled off along with three other players midway through our Europa League defeat to Royal Antwerp on Thursday and Mourinho told Football.London that journalists need not ask why he misses so many games for Tottenham after his performance in midweek.
Even Eric Dier told Football.London that Dele needs to “put in the work, the effort, the commitment” to get back into the team. It doesn’t appear he’s getting the memo, however, which could lead to Mourinho forcing him out of the club.
In the Amazon ‘All or Nothing’ documentary, Mourinho told Dele in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t happy with his work ethic in training. He called the England international “lazy” and said in a meeting with Daniel Levy that he doesn’t train well and needs motivating.
Dele scored four goals and made three assists in his first seven Premier League games under Mourinho (November 20, 2019 – present), but he’s struggled for consistency ever since (21 PL games, 2 goals, 1 assist) and no longer makes the 18.
Mourinho clearly isn’t happy with what Dele is showing him on the training ground and in games. He’s substituted the 24-year-old in every game he started him in this season, meaning Dele hasn’t played a full 90 minutes once. I can’t help but feel this could be the end.
Dele has made 228 appearances in all competitions since joining from MK Dons in 2015, scoring 63 goals with 55 assists, but he may not add much more to his tally if reports are to be believed.
As per the Daily Mail, the English midfielder was denied a loan move to Paris Saint-Germain over the summer but could be a target for the Ligue 1 champions in January.
The Sun suggested Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Shanghai SIPG could be potential destinations for Dele too. Time will tell where he ends up, however.
In other news, it’s time to admit Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has pleasantly surprised us all