Dele Alli

Bamidele Jermaine Alli (born 11 April 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Everton.

Born and raised in Milton Keynes, he joined the youth system at Milton Keynes Dons aged 11 and broke into the first team five years later, during the 2012–13 season.

Over the next two-and-a-half years he made 88 official appearances for the team, scoring 24 goals.

He made his debut for the first team as a sixteen-year-old on 2 November 2012, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Jay O'Shea in a 0–0 draw with Southern Football League club Cambridge City in the FA Cup first round at Milton Road.

His first touch in professional football was a back-heeled pass.

His first goal came in the replay against Cambridge eleven days later, where he scored in a 6–1 win at Stadium MK on his first start.

He made his league debut in a 2–3 defeat to Coventry City at home on 29 December, where he played 71 minutes before being replaced by Zeli Ismail.

His only other league appearance in the 2012–13 Football League One season, came as a second-half substitute for Patrick Bamford in the last match of the season, a 2–0 win over Stevenage at Broadhall Way.

The 2013–14 season saw Alli break into the MK Dons first team on a regular basis.

He started the Dons' first league match of the season, a 0–0 draw away at Shrewsbury Town.

In his first Football League Trophy appearance, Alli scored to help MK Dons beat Northampton Town 2–0 and thus progress to the second round of the tournament.

On 28 September, Alli scored his first professional league goal in a 4–1 win against Stevenage.

After injury setbacks in late 2013, Alli subsequently established himself as a first-choice player in 2014.

He scored the opening goal in the 3–2 win over Shrewsbury Town at Stadium MK on 11 January, with a header from Stephen Gleeson's pinpoint pass.

His next and final goal of the 2013–14 season, came on 5 April against Coventry City at the Sixfields Stadium; Alli struck a volley from 25 yards out as MK Dons defeated Coventry 2–1.

He made 37 appearances in all competitions during the 2013–14 season, scoring seven times, with 33 appearances and six goals in the league.

On 11 March 2014, against Notts County at Meadow Lane, aged 17 years and 11 months old, Alli scored a hat-trick to guide the Dons to a 3–1 victory.

With the departure of Gleeson to Birmingham City in June 2014, Alli became the first-choice central midfield partner to Darren Potter.

He started the season brightly, playing the first league match of the season as the Dons overcame a 2–0 deficit to defeat Gillingham, 4–2.

He then helped the team to a 3–1 win over arch-enemies, AFC Wimbledon, in the League Cup first round.

His first goal of the 2014–15 season came in the first away league match, a 3–2 defeat to Peterborough United, where he scored a tap-in from Will Grigg's deflected shot.

On 26 August, Alli played the full 90 minutes in the League Cup second round as MK Dons recorded a historic 4–0 win over Manchester United.

It was reported that numerous scouts from top clubs across Europe attended the match to watch him play, including representatives from Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

In the match after the 4–0 League Cup win over Manchester United, Alli continued his rich vein of form with a goal curled in from the edge of the box in a 2–0 win over Crawley Town.

After the international break, Alli played 77 minutes in the 5–3 win against Barnsley, assisting the Dons second goal and scoring their third goal himself with a chip over the Barnsley goalkeeper.

He was chosen as the Football League Young Player of the Month for August.

Following his transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, Alli was immediately loaned back to MK Dons for the remainder of the 2014–15 season.

On 19 April, he was chosen as the Young Player of the Year at the Football League Awards.

The season ended on 3 May with Milton Keynes Dons promoted automatically to the Championship as runners-up behind Bristol City, after a 5–1 home win over relegated Yeovil Town.

He signed for Tottenham Hotspur in February 2015 for an initial fee of £5 million, being loaned back to the Dons for the remainder of the season.

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.

He joined Everton in January 2022 and later that year joined Beşiktaş on loan.

Dele played for the England U17, U18 and U19 teams, before making his senior debut in 2015.

On 2 February 2015, Alli signed for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in the last hours of the mid-season transfer window on a five-and-a-half-year deal for an initial fee of £5 million.

On 8 August 2015, Alli made his Tottenham debut against Manchester United in the Premier League as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat away at Old Trafford, playing the last 13 minutes in place of Eric Dier.

He was selected for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, scoring in the latter and helping England to the semi-finals.

Dele joined the youth system at Milton Keynes Dons when he was 11 years old after playing for City Colts.

On 18 September, Alli extended his contract with MK Dons until June 2017.

Two days later, in a match against Crewe Alexandra, he scored a hat-trick and achieved one assist in what turned out to be a 6–1 victory for the Dons.

It was the second hat-trick of his career and the first he achieved at home, which also led to him winning the Man of the Match award.