Dele Alli was doing some punditry work on Monday Night Football alongside Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher for Everton’s 6-0 defeat to Chelsea.
If you probably didn’t know it, the one-time Tottenham star is at Goodison Park, even though he hasn’t played for the team for a year because of injury.
Back in 2019, Dele Alli, who likes to simply be known as Dele, was one of the star players for a Tottenham team facing Liverpool in the Champions League final.
The England international was in his pomp, at his goalscoring best, one of the first names on the teamsheet for then-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino and a player who Liverpool would have highlighted as a big threat.
It was a monumental occasion for both teams that would result in Jurgen Klopp guiding the Reds to European Cup glory in Madrid and writing his name into the club’s legendary books.
For Spurs, and players like Dele, it was just another sign that they weren’t an elite team and winning those trophies wasn’t going to happen.
Perhaps, if the goalscoring midfielder had moved to Anfield, before he really exploded onto the footballing stage, then his career would have mapped out a different way, in terms of winning silverware.
It seems as though there was a huge chance of that happening because Dele, in fact, could have been a Liverpool player, according to the player himself.
Back in 2015, the then-fresh-faced teenager signed on the dotted line for Spurs, from League One side MK Dons, and showcased to the world his footballing talents.
But Dele nearly joined Liverpool, when Brendan Rodgers was in charge, and even held a meeting with the now-Celtic manager, as he explained on Sky Sports Premier League (15/04/24).
Dele Alli on nearly joining Liverpool
“Liverpool were playing West Ham in London and I went to meet Brendan Rodgers the night after that game [MK Dons] and the night before the Liverpool game, and we had a conversation but it never happened,” said Dele
“It went well. I was at MK and I was happy there, even when I joined Tottenham I went back on loan because I wanted to see the team get promoted, it was my local team and I wanted to help them go back and help them finish it off.
“I felt at that time I was ready to make the next step and I felt the way I was playing at that time, it really suited me, that was the main reason I went to Tottenham, it was purely based off the manager at the time.
“I felt I was ready at the time and it didn’t happen for whatever reason, and I’m a big believer everything happened for a reason. So then going to Tottenham maybe wouldn’t have gone as well if I did join Liverpool.
Jamie Carragher: “It’s interesting because every time he scored a goal for Tottenham we would all be saying to each other he should be at Liverpool! We’d be sending texts saying why didn’t we get him, why didn’t we sign him. It was a bad problem for us but it worked out well for you!
Dele: “You guys beat us in the Champions League final!”
Dele trying to pick his career up again
Look at Jude Bellingham today. The world in front of him, playing for Real Madrid, scoring goals and being a key player for his country.
Many thought that was the level Dele was going to hit.
He may not have won a trophy at Spurs, but he continuously challenged near the top and scored a ridiculous amount of goals for a midfield player.
From his 194 Premier League matches, he has 51 goals and 35 assists – those are incredible numbers for a player now trying to get his career back on track.
Dele has openly spoken about off-field issues that have affected him, but hopefully, all of that is now behind him and he can carry on to let his football do the talking because it’s of the highest quality when he is on a roll.
