Simon Jordan has given his thoughts on Dele Alli, who has returned to Everton following his loan at Turkish side Besiktas being cut short.
What has Jordan said about Alli?
Speaking on talkSPORT (10th April), the former Crystal Palace owner said:
“Dele Alli has now for two or three years wasted everybody’s time.
“His own, his employers, his teammates. He’s gone from being a player that I always felt was overhyped, and I used to have debates with Gordon Strachan.”
Jordan then continued his scathing attack on Alli, he added:
“He’s chosen this path to be on documentaries like ‘All or Nothing’ where you get to see a laughing, gurning idiot getting told by his manager that he doesn’t train very well.”
The vocal onslaught came as Alli returned from Turkey with just 10 Super Lig starts to his name, where he scored two goals in this time.
How has it come to this for Alli?
The €11m-rated (£9.5m) midfielder was once one of the brightest prospects in English football. Aged 21, Alli won the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the second year in a row. He won this award ahead of names such as Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Leroy Sane.
However, with all three going on to some of the highest heights within European football, fans have been wondering where it all went wrong for the player once called “one of the best players in the world” by Jose Mourinho.
In his final two seasons at Tottenham Hotspur, Alli made just 15 starts, where he scored one goal and created one assist. The Milton Keynes-born attacking midfielder’s decline was showcased to the world by Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing’ series. In the documentary, it was highlighted how Mourinho tried to encourage Alli, he said: “You [Alli] should demand more from you. Not me demanding more from you. Not me. Nobody. You.”
It is this frustration with the £100k-per-week former star that is echoed by fans and Jordan. The maestro burst into a youthful attacking Spurs side under Mauricio Pochettino and looked set to grow into one of England’s brightest talents. In his first season in the Premier League, Alli scored 10 goals and created nine assists; this was the type of performances fans became accustomed to seeing from him.
The former MK Dons midfielder has let his career slip to the point where there looks to be almost no return. However, he has the opportunity at the Toffees to start a new resurgent life under Sean Dyche. For the 27-year-old, this is probably his last chance.