NEW DELE

It has been a tough last 12 months for Dele Alli with injury battles hampering his time on the pitch but the England international is now back fit and in a good place, building momentum and hoping he can deliver his best in a Spurs shirt in 2020.

- Liam Carson

It was five years ago to the day that Dele Alli first walked through our doors at Hotspur Way but few could have predicted quite how his Spurs career would take off.

He signed for us as an 18-year-old; young but experienced and with talent aplenty – a description that remains just as apt today as it did then.

Joining from hometown club MK Dons, he had made almost a century of appearances for the League One side, who he initially rejoined on loan before making his Spurs debut in August 2015.

Yet, despite his tender age and having never played a Premier League game he quickly got his feet under the table following his arrival in N17. Fast forward five years and the attack-minded midfielder’s growth has almost seemed relentless and yet, at just 23-years-old, he still remains one of England’s brightest young talents.

However, having made his professional debut almost eight years ago, his youthful age is something that he almost needs to remind people about on a more than regular basis, but that shows how far he has come in just a matter of years. The rate at which he established himself at the height of the world’s game in such a short space of time speaks volumes of the quality he holds and what high expectations are held of him.

The highs kept coming through his early years as a Spur, but Dele admits it’s not as easy as you​ would think to look back over what has been a whirlwind five years.

“It is difficult to think back over previous moments sometimes because you always have that next game or that next challenge. It never stops – certainly not at the moment anyway,” he explained.

“I think you are always looking forward and trying not to focus on what has happened in the past, whether it be positive or not, you are always looking for that next challenge and how to accomplish that next goal.