Writing was on the wall for a street kid with no desire

AS news broke last week that Dele Alli was on the brink of a move to Besiktas, a clip from Tottenham’s All Or Nothing documentary quickly started doing the rounds.

It was the one where Jose Mourinho spelled out to the midfielder that his career would be over in the blink of an eye and that he didn’t want him to get to the end of it with regrets that some opportunities had been allowed to pass him by.

Mourinho was correct, of course, that something wasn’t right.

Although, in fairness, he was only really echoing fears Alli’s previous manager, Mauricio Pochettino, had held for the best part of three years.

In his book, Brave New World, which focused on Spurs’ 2016-17 season, Pochettino wrote: “The danger remains, as is often the case, that he will forget what has got him to this point. I have had to repeat it to him this season. The other risk is whether those around him know how to treat a top-level professional.

“His Whatsapp photo of a cartoon of a boy surrounded by people who all want a piece of him suggests that he needs to be surrounded by the right people.”

Poch went on: “I often think about that Whatsapp photo. John Mcdermott [Spurs’s academy chief] says that when the trough is full, the pigs come from all over to feed.

“The coach used to be the dominant voice but now the player listens to so many others, especially those who will promise the world.”

Poch didn’t just love Alli’s ability but his devilment as well. The trouble was, when Alli signed a lucrative new deal in 2018, that little bit of naughty, like the street-kid desire he had to work hard and prove people wrong, almost started disappearing overnight.

But the youngster who had been ranked the second-most valuable player under 21 on the planet – behind Kylian Mbappe – by a CIES Football Observatory report in 2017, has simply failed to kick on in anything like the fashion he was expected to.

And in the here and now, at a time in which Alli should be approaching his prime, it seems even more incredible that the fears Pochettino and Mourinho had for him have proved well founded.

Keeping young millionaires hungry for success is one of the most difficult aspects of modern management and it’s only going to get worse.

Alli isn’t the first person who hasn’t reached his potential after trousering riches beyond his wildest dreams and he won’t be the last.

But if football does need another cautionary tale to remind it that giving young players too much, too soon isn’t always a recipe for success, then Alli’s Everton departure fits the bill.

There’s still hope that, at

26, he could see the light and knuckle down again to make the most of what he has got left.

The trouble is, if it isn’t going to happen at

Everton under Frank

Lampard, someone every modern player must be able to relate to, you fear now it isn’t going to happen at all.

At a time in which Alli should be approaching his prime, it seems incredible that the fears Poch and Mourinho had for him have proved wellfounded