In an interview earlier this year Sir Alex Ferguson said: ‘I thought Dele Alli was going to be a top player, I must admit. I don’t know what’s happened there.’
The good news for Alli is he has time to prove Ferguson right. At 25, his best years should still be ahead of him. The bad news is that it is going to be a long way back.
From the boy that had the world at his feet as he returned home from England’s euphoric run to the World Cup semi-final in 2018 to warming the Tottenham bench under three separate managers - you wonder how it has all come to this.