Alli’s ideal present as he outshines Ronaldo at 21

TOTTENHAM boss Mauricio Pochettino believes Dele Alli is the best young player in Europe after he kept Spurs on Chelsea’s tail with the opener against Watford. The stats back him up. Alli (below) turns 21 tomorrow and is already better than Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to making and scoring goals. The England midfielder has been involved in 40 goals so far in his fledgling career. Compare that to Ronaldo, who had been involved in 25 goals by the time he turned 21, scoring 14 and assisting 11. Frank Lampard had been involved in 15, Paul Scholes 14, Steven Gerrard 13 and David Beckham ten. It’s some company Alli is keeping — especially as he has only scored twice from outside the area in the English Premier League. His first was against Crystal Palace in 2016 that won him Goal of the Season. His second came on Saturday. It was spectacular, too — a 25-yarder that sent Tottenham on their way to a sixth straight win Pochettino was delighted with Alli’s super stats when the list was read to him. ‘Wow. That’s unbelievable?’ he said. ‘First of all he’s a great kid. He’s a lovely person. And then he is a great player. And then he is so young he can improve a lot, he can learn a lot, his potential is massive. ‘But every day he’s improving and every day he gets more mature. He’s improving in his skills but in his character, as well.’ Is he the greatest young footballer in Europe? ‘Today, his age and with his stats, I think so,’ answered Pochettino. ‘If he’s not the best, he’s one of the best for sure.’ Tottenham’s opener from Alli was his 16th in the Premier League this season. Eric Dier got one of the other goals while Son Heung-min got two.