Tottenham Hotspur‘s Dele Alli has said that he’s honoured to be compared to Paul Gascoigne by Manchester United‘s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Alli has taken the Premier League by storm since his arrival at Spurs last summer as the 19-year-old midfielder has scored seven goals and assisted nine more to help the North London outfit fight for the title.
Not only has his form in the league been exceptional but he’s been one of England’s best players all season too, and many expect Roy Hodgson to hand him a starting role in his senior side this summer at Euro 2016.
It has been a meteoric rise from playing League One football with MK Dons this time last year, and hearing praise from Sir Alex is just another high point in a glowing season.
“It’s a hard one to take in [Ferguson’s praise], for one of the greatest managers ever to compliment you like that, it means a lot and it’s a huge honour,” Alli told Sky Sports.
“But I don’t want to get carried away with things like that, it’s important I keep working hard and don’t think too much about those things.”
Alli has attracted plenty of praise all season – from former professionals, pundits and supporters – as the teenager has all the attributes needed to succeeded at the highest level.
Due to his talent, he’s been compared to Steven Gerrard, and the Liverpool icon himself even admitted that Alli is currently better than he was at the same age.
On Gerrard, Alli added: “It makes your hair stand up, you can’t really believe it. He’s someone I’ve looked up to massively since growing up, he was a great player and a legend. He was my idol and for him to say something like that means a lot to me.”
Alli has been fantastic this season and is likely to win the PFA Young Player of the Year, though he will have competition from his Spurs teammate, Harry Kane.
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