Jamie Redknapp warns Tottenham Hotspur about Dele Alli, here’s why he’s wrong

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The Spurs midfielder shone against Southampton on Wednesday.

Jamie Redknapp has told Sky Sports that Tottenham need to match Dele Alli’s ambitions to ensure he stays in North London for the long term.

The 20-year-old midfielder took his Premier League goal tally to six for the season after netting twice in Spurs’ 4-1 away win at Southampton while winning a penalty early in the second half that earned Nathan Redmond a straight red card.

It was the latest in a series of influential displays for Alli in Tottenham colours since he arrived from MK Dons in the summer of 2015, during which time he has evolved into a fully-fledged England international.

And Redknapp was effusive in his praise of the nation’s most exciting young talent though he has warned Spurs that they must carry on developing to keep their prized asset out of the clutches of some of Europe’s bonafide top clubs.

“They paid £5m for him. He’s now a £50m-plus player,” Redknapp told Sky Sports. “He’s a sensational footballer – Tottenham are extremely lucky to have him.

“It’s amazing to see how quickly he’s become of the best players around. I think there’s so much more to come from him, too.”

“[But] that’s always the problem at Tottenham – can they match his ambitions? Can they keep kicking on? If they do, then Alli can achieve anything he wants with the club. They’ve got a great fanbase and are about to move to a brilliant stadium. Alli’s going to demand the top wages.

“If Tottenham aren’t going to pay him that, then he’ll have to go somewhere else to get them. He’s a player anyone would like to have in his team.”

According to The Telegraph, Alli penned a new six year deal back in September, earning him a significant pay rise on his comparatively modest £25,000-per-week deal.

And with Mauricio Pochettino building the foundations for a long period of sustained pressure on the top positions in the Premier League, why would Alli leave a club where he will have the chance to develop at his own pace and become a symbol of their next generation?

Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Christian Eriksen, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen and Hugo Lloris all committed their long-term futures to Spurs recently so it certainly seems harsh to question the ambition of the North London club.