What happened to Dele Alli?

Last Updated on 18 February 2026

There was a moment, not so long ago, when Dele Alli felt inevitable. The flicks, the late runs into the box, the swagger that made goals look preordained rather than created.

He wasn’t just thriving in the Premier League, he was redefining what an English attacking midfielder could be. At Tottenham, he moved with the certainty of a player who believed the game would always bend to him.

Today, Dele Alli’s journey has shifted from highlight reels to human resilience, yet the question still lingers: how did a generational talent fall so far from the summit he once seemed destined to rule?

Dele Alli: From prodigy to Premier League force

Dele’s ascent remains one of modern English football’s great accelerations. Signed from MK Dons for a fee that barely reflected his promise, he arrived at Tottenham and immediately looked native to elite football.

Timing rather than pace defined him; he ghosted into spaces others couldn’t see, scoring with the instinct of a striker despite starting deeper. Under Mauricio Pochettino, he became both weapon and symbol, the fearless face of Spurs’ rise.

Back-to-back Young Player of the Year awards confirmed what the eye already knew: England had found a midfielder producing numbers comparable to the very best of previous eras. At his peak, Dele embodied momentum.

Alongside Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen, he formed the attacking core that carried Tottenham to the 2019 Champions League final. Confidence fed performance, performance fed myth, and the cycle felt self-sustaining.

The downfall no one saw coming

The decline began after Pochettino, but the roots ran deeper than tactics or selection. Managers that followed saw a different player, less explosive, less engaged, and public criticism hardened perception. The idea that it could collapse so quickly seemed implausible.

A label of laziness attached itself to him, flattening a far more complicated reality into a convenient narrative. Moves to Everton and then Besiktas were framed as restarts, yet injuries and inconsistency persisted.

Away from the pitch, Dele was carrying histories he had never confronted: childhood abuse, early exposure to crime and, later, dependence on sleeping medication. When he spoke openly about these experiences, football’s interpretation of his fall shifted from mystery to context.

Where is Dele Alli now?

By the time Dele resurfaced in Italy with Como, the frame around him had changed entirely. He was no longer football’s future icon, but a player attempting to reconnect with the game at its simplest level: routine, fitness, minutes.

However, his tango in Como was a short-lived one. Currently, Alli is a free agent after being released by the Italian club. He had plenty of offers to join La Liga clubs, according to reports from Goal.com in January 2026.

As far as his personal life is concerned, Dele Alli has been dating the social media model and influencer, Cindy Kimberly, one of the most followed WAGs in world football.

He’s also reportedly doing a lot better mentally as fans hold on to hope that one day Dele can realize his full potential on the football pitch.