New Tottenham Hotspur signing Dele Alli is ready to fight for his place in the starting line-up this season, he told FourFourTwo.
The 19-year-old was brought in on the last day of the January transfer window from MK Dons for £5M, but was loaned back to the then League One side, to help them with their battle for promotion to the Championship.
Now, with the season over and MK Dons in the Championship, Alli is ready for a new challenge at White Hart Lane. He told FourFourTwo’s Tom Farmery: “I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be hard and it’s going to be a challenge, but it’s one I believe I’m ready to take.
“As far as I’m concerned I’m at Tottenham to play and I’m going to work hard to make sure that happens.”
Alli, who played 27 league games for MK Dons last season, scoring 12, says that manager Maurcio Pochettino was a big factor in his decision to join Spurs – despite being a lifelong Liverpool fan.
The midfielder said: “When we were looking at moving I think it was really important that we found a manager who was similar to the gaffer [Karl Robinson, MK Dons].
“Someone who has a lot of trust in young players and isn’t scared to put them on. I can see that in the manager [at Spurs], so it’s a great move for me.”
Liverpool had lodged a £3.5M bid for Alli before his eventual move to Tottenham, although the Englishman wanted to spend the 2014/15 season at the Stadium MK – which Spurs let him do.
Alli comes with a big price tag, a lot of hopes and expectations, but also confidence and the right mentality. The youngster could well follow the likes of Harry Kane, Andros Townsend, Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb in breaking into the first team in North London.
