Stoke City boss Paul Lambert says that he wanted to sign Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli when he was the manager of Aston Villa and the midfielder was at Milton Keynes Dons.
Lambert, who was appointed the manager of Stoke in January 2018, was in charge of Villa from the summer of 2012 until February 2015.
Alli started his professional club football career at MK Dons and was snapped up by Tottenham in February 2015 for a transfer fee reported by BBC Sport to be worth £5 million.
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Lambert has revealed that he wanted to sign the 21-year-old midfielder before he moved from MK Dons to Spurs.
Lambert told The Sentinel about Alli: “I actually spoke to him on the phone when he was at MK Dons for Aston Villa.
“He came across really well. But I knew Tottenham were in, it was always going to be difficult with Tottenham. He was a nice kid.
“He was only a baby then, that was a few years ago. He obviously chose Tottenham and he kicked right on.”
Quality footballer
Alli has been superb for Tottenham and is one of the best young midfielders in entire Europe.
Although on certain occasions so far this season, the 21-year-old has been underwhelming, his overall displays and performances have been very good.
The England international midfielder has eight goals and provided nine assists in 29 Premier League starts for Tottenham so far this season.
Spurs will take on Stoke away from home at the bet365 Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
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