Bamidele Jermaine Alli is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Everton.
36 Facts About Dele Alli
2.
In each of his first two campaigns at White Hart Lane, Alli was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year and made the PFA Team of the Year.
3.
Dele Alli joined Everton in January 2022 and later that year joined Besiktas on loan.
4.
Dele Alli played for the England U17, U18 and U19 teams, before making his senior debut in 2015.
5.
Dele Alli was selected for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, scoring in the latter and helping England to the semi-finals.
6.
Dele Alli joined the youth system at Milton Keynes Dons when he was 11 years old after playing for City Colts.
7.
Dele Alli's first touch in professional football was a back-heeled pass.
8.
On 18 September, Dele Alli extended his contract with MK Dons until June 2017.
9.
Ahead of the season, Alli changed his kit name to Dele, saying that he had "no connection" to his legal surname due to his separation from his mother.
10.
Between 18 December 2016 and 21 January 2017, Dele Alli scored eight goals in six league matches, earning the award of Premier League Player of the Month award for January 2017.
11.
On 20 April 2017, Dele Alli was again named in the PFA Team of the Year, having been included in the League One selection for 2015 and the Premier League selection in 2016.
12.
On 11 August 2018, Dele Alli scored his first goal of the season, scoring the winning goal in the opening league match against Newcastle United.
13.
In October 2018, Dele Alli signed a new six-year deal at Tottenham, which would keep him at the club until 2024.
14.
Dele Alli missed the start of the season due to a hamstring injury.
15.
Dele Alli returned to the team in the North London Derby on 1 September 2019, coming on as a substitute.
16.
In February 2020, Dele Alli posted a video on his Snapchat account in which he appeared to mock an Asian man while joking about the COVID-19 outbreak.
17.
The video showed Dele Alli wearing a face mask at Heathrow Airport while waiting for his flight to Dubai, before the camera moved to show a man of Asian appearance before zooming in on a bottle of antiseptic handwash, seemingly suggesting the Asian man in the terminal could be infected with the virus.
18.
Dele Alli was suspended in June 2020 for one match by the Football Association, making him ineligible for Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League game at home against Manchester United on 19 June.
19.
Dele Alli failed to find a role under the new manager, and became a fringe player in Conte's plan for Tottenham.
20.
Dele Alli did not score or register an assist in 13 games.
21.
Dele Alli did not play any games for Besiktas after 26 February 2023, and with only two goals scored in 13 games playing for the team, he returned to Everton in April for an assessment of an injury he picked up, while Besiktas sought to cancel his season-long loan.
22.
Dele Alli has made several appearances at U17 and U18 levels for England.
23.
On 27 August 2014, Dele Alli was called up to the England U19 squad following an impressive start to the campaign.
24.
Dele Alli was again named in the starting line-up for England's friendly match against world champions Germany on 26 March 2016.
25.
Dele Alli was selected for the 23-man England squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
26.
Early in his career, Dele Alli was widely considered one of the best young midfielders of his generation, and won PFA Young Player of the Year two years running.
27.
Dele Alli was praised for his all-round skillset and his goalscoring prowess, particularly when playing as a second striker.
28.
Dele Alli has been widely accused of diving, and has received bookings for simulation.
29.
In 2018, Dele Alli was considered the world's most expensive midfielder from a transfer value perspective by the CIES.
30.
However, Dele Alli's form faded in subsequent seasons, resulting in him losing his place in the England team in 2019 and becoming a fringe player for Spurs in the following years.
31.
Dele Alli was born in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, to a Yoruba Nigerian father Kehinde and English mother Denise.
32.
Dele Alli was initially brought up by his mother, who suffered from alcohol problems.
33.
Dele Alli went to Stantonbury Campus and The Radcliffe School in Wolverton.
34.
Dele Alli was a Liverpool fan growing up with Steven Gerrard his childhood idol, and saw Gerrard and Frank Lampard as good role models on how they act as professionals.
35.
Dele Alli is a fan of British hip hop music, which led rapper Cadet to release a single referencing the footballer, "Advice".
36.
On 13 May 2020, Dele Alli was held at knifepoint during a burglary by two men who broke into his house in north London.