Dean Saunders has claimed that the decline in former Tottenham midfielder and current Everton player Dele Alli’s career is a ‘mystery’, as he told talkSPORT.
The former striker added that when Alli was in his pomp, the England international was a ‘lethal finisher’, but all of that now seems to have gone out of the window.
In January, Spurs sold Alli to Everton, but the 26-year-old only managed two starts – his first game when joining the club and then on the final day of the Premier League season when they had survived relegation.
Even though it was a change of environment for the attack-minded midfielder and working for a manager in Frank Lampard, who he was compared to a lot during his career, he still couldn’t get himself back on track.
And Saunders has touched upon what has happened to Alli and how his previously goalscoring qualities have just ‘gone’.
“Dele Alli, a mystery,” said Saunders. “Arriving in the box, getting on the end of crosses, ghosting past people and slotting balls past the keeper. Lethal finishing. It’s gone.
“I don’t know what has happened to him.”
CAN DELE ALLI PICK UP HIS CAREER AGAIN?
This forthcoming season for Alli is a big one because he has to get it right, or else a number of people will be asking further questions about his career.
Whilst Everton are a massive club, they aren’t exactly riding a wave because they just got out of a relegation battle.
If Alli can’t get the best out of himself in a team that finished just above the drop zone last term, then where would he head next?
Would another Premier League club take a punt on him? Probably not.
But the former MK Dons academy star needs to look at the positives and how if he is at his best, then he is straight back into the England reckoning.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
