What's happened to Dele Alli and why isn't he playing football?

England may now be blessed with some of the finest young talents in world football, but there was a time not so long ago when the emergence of world-class youngsters in the national team was far from guaranteed. Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden could each currently legitimately claim to be the best young player on the planet, and Bukayo Saka, Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer are no slouches either.

Journey back 10 years ago, though, and the picture was not so rosy for England. Jack Wilshere and Raheem Sterling were the promising youngsters in the squad that exited the 2014 World Cup after two group games and England were crying out for fresh blood as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard brought the curtain down on their international careers.

By the time the next tournament rolled around, Dele Alli had established himself as the next big thing in English football after a maiden campaign at Tottenham in which he racked up double figures for Premier League goals. England's summer still ended in embarrassment at the hands of Iceland, but for Alli, his inclusion in three of England's four line-ups at Euro 2016 marked the next step on his expected journey to the top.

A career-best 2016-17 season followed as Alli plundered 22 goals in 50 games for Spurs, dovetailing beautifully with Harry Kane under Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs recorded their highest league finish since 1963. With the world at his feet, he never quite lived up to expectations – so what happened?

Problems arise for Alli under Mourinho

Alli contemplated retirement after Pochettino's sacking

Alli could not replicate that goalscoring output the following season but was still a key player at White Hart Lane and went on to feature in five of England's seven games at the World Cup, scoring in the quarter-final victory over Sweden.

However, the attacking midfielder's form started to suffer following the sacking of Pochettino and Spurs' subsequent appointment of Jose Mourinho as manager in 2019. Alli's relationship with Mourinho never appeared to get off the ground and it was during the Portuguese's time in north London that Alli contemplated giving up football.

I remember just looking in the mirror and I was asking if I could retire now, at 24, doing the thing I love.

“It was tough for me when he (Pochettino) left and it was so hard for me to let anyone else in at that point,” Alli told Gary Neville in an interview with The Overlap last year. “It felt fake speaking to other managers and it was probably down to me and my ego. I felt like they didn’t want to get to know me on a personal level so it was then tough for me to commit and give everything.

"Probably the saddest moment for me was when Mourinho was manager. I think I was 24. I remember there was one session, like one morning I woke up and I had to go to training - this is when he'd stopped playing me - and I was in a bad place.

"I remember just looking in the mirror - I mean it sounds dramatic but I was literally staring in the mirror - and I was asking if I could retire now, at 24, doing the thing I love. For me, that was heartbreaking to even have had that thought at 24, to want to retire. That hurt me a lot, that was another thing that I had to carry."

Sexual abuse revelation in emotive Neville interview

Alli checked himself into rehab following grim Turkey spell

It was in that interview that Alli also revealed he was the victim of sexual abuse as a child and that he had turned to sleeping tablets and alcohol to "escape from reality" before realising he had a problem and checking himself into rehab in 2023. By that time, Alli was no longer at Tottenham having moved to Everton for a fresh start in January 2022, playing a pivotal role off the bench in Everton's comeback win over Crystal Palace in May of that season, a result that kept Everton in the Premier League.

However, that remains the only high point of his Everton career to date, and he has only played three times for the Toffees since that game. Alli was sent to Besiktas on loan last season and it was when he returned from Turkey that he went into rehab, where he spent six weeks.

Alli has not figured at all since his emotive interview with Neville, having undergone separate surgeries on his hip and groin over the past 12 months.

Under the terms of Alli's move to Goodison Park, Everton would have to pay Tottenham £10million if the former MK Dons man makes 20 appearances for them. However, it now seems unlikely that Spurs will receive any money for the player given he has only played 13 times for Everton and his contract on Merseyside is due to expire this summer.

Stats from Transfermarkt (as of 15/04/24).