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Tottenham’s Alli Wins PFA Young Player of the Year Award

By Alexander Balano

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 10 : Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at White Hart Lane on April 10, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 10 : Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at White Hart Lane on April 10, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) /
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Dele All is the fourth Tottenham player in the last five years to win the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

After being named to the Professional Football’s Association Team of the Year on Thursday, April 21st, alongside fellow Tottenham teammates Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld, Dele Alli has picked up a prestigious individual award after having a phenomenal debut season in the Premier League this year.

Related Story: Tottenham's Dele Alli, Harry Kane Shortlisted for Awards

Because Mauricio Pochettino didn’t allow any of his PFA nominees to attend the award ceremony at Grosvenor House in London today (Sunday, April 24th) Ossie Ardiles was in attendance to accept the award on Dele Alli’s behalf.

However the 20-year-old was able to give his thanks.

“Thank you Ossie, the Tottenham legend for receiving this award for me, Alli said (quotes via Sky Sports).

“Sorry I can’t be there tonight but we have a big game tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who voted for me.”

“I feel honoured to win such a prestigious award and thank you to my friends, family and all the staff at Tottenham.”

In 32 league appearances for Tottenham, Alli has scored 10 goals and registered nine assists while providing Pochettino’s squad with one of the most exciting young talents for club and country at just the age of 20.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 10: Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur (2R) celebrates with team mates as he scores their first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at White Hart Lane on April 10, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – APRIL 10: Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur (2R) celebrates with team mates as he scores their first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at White Hart Lane on April 10, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /

Despite signing from MK Dons in January 2015 and joining Spurs this past summer, jumping two divisions from League One didn’t faze a then-19-year-old who opened his account in his second appearance of the season against Leicester City.

It would take just four games until Dele Alli got his first Premier League start of his career, against Sunderland, after already making his debut in a substitution appearance in the season opener against Manchester United.

Through the first 14 fixtures, which included an unused substition appearance against Stoke and a suspension against Chelsea, Alli was no doubt a talented kid who helped contribute to Tottenham’s 11-match unbeaten streak, following a loss at Old Trafford. But the midfielder had only contributed to two goals in 12 appearances.

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However, after serving a one-game ban for yellow card accumulation, something clicked in Dele Alli’s head to the point that he has become simply unstoppable.

Since a 0-0 draw against Chelsea on November 29, 2015, once Alli returned to the starting lineup the following week against West Bromwich Albion, he has gone on to score eight goals and register nine assists in 20 appearances.

It has become very apparent that Dele Alli has forged a deadly partnership with Harry Kane playing as Mauricio Pochettino’s preferred number 10 after Christian Eriksen manned the position since his arrival three years ago.

For as good as Alli has been both home and away, he is at the top of his game while Tottenham are on the road. To score eight goals and provide five assists is indicative of how good Dele Alli truly is in away fixtures.

With Alli winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award, he is now the fourth Tottenham player (fifth overall) to win this honor in the past five seasons with Kyle Walker (2011-12), Gareth Bale (2012-13) and Harry Kane (2014-15) being the the past winners in recent years to represent Spurs.

Next: Pochettino Convinced Hugo Lloris to Remain at Tottenham

To say that Spurs can get the very best out of its young talent, whether they’re youth academy players or simply bought from other teams, is an understatement just by looking at the past four out of five winners.

In fact, because Tottenham has had this much success with young talented players, they could very well be the breeding ground of developing top stars not only for their club but for the England national team as well.

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