Scott Minto deems Tottenham ace Dele Alli an ‘excellent example’ for young footballers

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Tottenham Hotspur signed Dele Alli from the EFL and over the years the attacking midfielder has prospered for Spurs and England.

Sky Sports pundit Scott Minto has spoken highly of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli, describing the 23-year-old as an “excellent example” for youngsters hoping to reach the top of the game (EFL website).

The Spurs ace has enjoyed a swift rise to the upper echelons of the game, impressing at MK Dons and standing out to the point that the Premier League club opted to snap him up in the 2015 winter window aged just 18 for a reported £5million (BBC Sport), though he was loaned back to the then League One club for the rest of the season.

Alli’s debut season at Tottenham, in 2015-16, saw him claim an impressive 10 goals and nine assists from just 33 Premier League appearances (Transfermarkt), and his current tally for Spurs stands at 59 goals and 52 assists from 199 senior appearances (Transfermarkt).

The Tottenham star has also won 37 caps for England, and even though his lacklustre early-season form saw him snubbed from the last few squads, he has returned to his best form under new head coach Jose Mourinho, and it would be a surprise were he not to be picked for the Three Lions in 2020.

Minto has claimed that “times are changing” when it comes to development of young players in the English game, with the EFL an ideal platform for their credentials to be shown and honed, and earmarked Alli as an ideal example of someone who can prosper outside the Premier League before becoming established in the top flight and internationally.

“For me, Dele Alli is an excellent example,” Minto told the EFL website. “There are many similar examples to show that you can start at a club in the EFL and as long as that club has the right attitude, the right academy and development strategy, you can certainly do what he has done.

“He’s come through the EFL, playing games early on in his career, learning while playing men’s football and then developing his talents that way. When you’re playing men’s football, you’re in amongst it, and you have to deal with it. That is how I grew up as a player all those years ago, and it didn’t do me any harm.”