Tottenham tie is shop window for rising star Dack
DELE ALLI will be reunited with the next lower league player tipped to follow him into the big time when Spurs meet Gillingham in the Football League Cup at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.
The Kent club’s 22-year-old goalscoring midfielder Bradley Dack has been valued at £5million and compared to Frank Lampard after netting 15 goals last season and scoring the winner at Premier League Watford in the last round.
Eighteen months ago, Dack (below) outshone Alli when Gillingham beat MK Dons 4-2 but has since seen the younger man shoot past him by signing for Tottenham and winning a starting place for England.
In the process, Alli became the latest Premier League star to have broken through from the Football League with John Stones, Jamie Vardy, Adam Lallana and Michail Antonio further examples.
Dack would love to be next and a cup tie at White Hart Lane is an ideal shop window.
‘When you see Dele achieve what he has, it gives hope to everyone at our level,’ says Dack. ‘I’ve played against him. He was a top player even as a kid, he had that bit extra, I enjoyed our battles.
‘They beat us a couple of times but we got them back at home. I scored and set up a couple.’
Gills chairman Paul Scally blocked moves for Dack from Brighton and Bristol City this year in anticipation of attracting bigger fry.
Dack agrees: ‘This is a big year for me. I am happy at Gillingham but I think everyone knows I want to go and play in the Premier League at some stage.
‘If I can carry on my form from last year and be fit, I’d back myself. We’ll see what happens in the next window or next summer.
‘This game is a chance for me and the Gillingham players. ’
Dack, instantly recognisable with his long hair, was voted the best player in League One last season, following in the footsteps of Alli who had cleaned up at the Football League awards the previous year.
In many ways, his journey has already been a triumph over adversity having been released by Charlton at 14.
‘It knocks your confidence and the first thing you think is, “I’m never going to be a footballer,”’ he admits.
‘I said to my dad I’d lost the enjoyment of football and I’d rather play with my mates.
‘I had a few games in the Kent League with them when Gillingham offered me a trial and I’ve never looked back.’ From his Charlton experience, Dack has an insight into the more ruthless side of football. ‘I was meant to be in training that day when Charlton called my dad to say they weren’t going to renew my contract so I didn’t have to go in. And then they left dad to tell me. ‘I’ve got no bitterness towards Charlton but it wasn’t the right way to do it. ‘Even though I was quite young, they should have called a meeting to explain it properly to me and my family. ‘All dad was told was they didn’t think I was going to be big enough. ‘That was an excuse for me, you don’t know how people are going to grow until they’re 18.’ Dack is now 5ft 9in and like all the players who have made it from below, he has a special quality. Whereas Vardy has blistering pace and Stones can open up teams from defence, the Gillingham player has a rare natural ability to score goals from midfield. ‘Getting into the box at the right time is an instinct thing though I did also study Lampard and Steven Gerrard on Match of the Day,’ he says. ‘You can’t teach someone how to find space but I have worked on my finishing because once you get those chances in the area, you have to take them.’