The World Cup was one of the greatest experiences ever, but I’m a footballer... I WANT MORE! WHY DELE PUT HARD WORK & TRAINING BEFORE POST-RUSSIA CELEBRATIONS

DELE ALLI returned from the World Cup having enjoyed the best summer of his life.

But the real measure of his character was it took only a week before he got fed up basking in the glow of England’s adventure in Russia. He interrupted his holiday to get straight back in the gym, driving himself on to get ready for the new season and make sure he is ready to hit higher targets.

More goals, more assists, consistency and, above all, a determination to win a trophy with Tottenham which he believes will be just the start for boss Mauricio Pochettino. “The World Cup was one of the best experiences I’ve had,” said Alli. “Playing for Tottenham in all competitions is a dream come true and playing for England at a World Cup has always been my ambition and then to end up being disappointed we didn’t win it.

“That’s football. You are never satisfied with what you’ve achieved, you always want more.

“Even after the World Cup, I had a week or so relaxing, taking my mind off it, then after that I was back in the gym, working and making sure I was ready for the first game of the season.

“Rest is important but you want to be involved in every game. It felt like I had enough time off to recover mentally and physically.

“I know I need to improve, maybe be more consistent and I want to break the 20-goal barrier, add a few more goals and assists.

“Last season was my best for learning but I had a very good one.

“Stats-wise I think I’ve shown improvement. But I’m 22 and I feel I’ve got a long way before I stop learning. I can carry on improving. I learnt a lot about myself as a person, mentally and tactically. But this season has got to be better.”

Dele knows the criticism about Pochettino not yet winning a trophy and a lack of signings in the summer window. But he sees it differently.

“We’ve been so close recently so we want to take that step further,” he said.

“Not signing anyone in the transfer window was something people talked about but it didn’t worry me because we know how good we are as a team.

“We know we can improve, we know we’re not the finished article and that makes it even more exciting.

“It is important for us to win a trophy. We want to start winning things and feel it is time.

“We’ve just got to keep improving. The fans deserve a trophy and maybe when you win one then others follow.”

Alli knows, as a creative midfielder, he will be judged on goals and assists but growing up in public also puts him in the spotlight while his ambitions are clear for England and in the Champions League.

England boss Gareth Southgate names his next squad on Thursday and Tottenham face Barcelona at Wembley on Wednesday.

But he never gets carried away, especially having started at MK Dons.

“I can’t take anything for granted, the character you have to have coming from the lower leagues and for me, playing in the first team from such a young age, I had to fight to prove a point,” he said.

“It’s not easy as a professional footballer because it’s a hard path.

“When you are growing up as kids, everyone dreams of playing against the best teams in the best competitions and the Champions League is that.

“It’s a great opportunity to play against the best players and the best teams in the world.

“Last season I feel we made our mark, definitely showed improvement and we need to step it up again and go further.

“We’ve definitely grown as a team with England. We’re a better team for the experience, the more time we had together, the more chemistry we had, it was building confidence as a team.

“But I also think we’re better as players for that experience.”