Tottenham Celebrates One Year Since THAT Dele Alli Goal

One year ago today, Dele Alli performed the single feat that perhaps best encapsulated his wild debut season with Tottenham.

With Tottenham attempting to find a winner late in a home match against Crystal Palace, the ball found its way to Dele as the then-19-year-old sat on the edge of the box. He juggled it over his head then, before it could take the turf, volleyed it in an arc through to the back of Palace’s net.

Tottenham could go on to win that match 3-1 thanks to an almost-as-marvelous strike from Nacer Chadli, but it was Dele’s goal that became seared in the memory of anyone watching that day. It was a goal of exceptional skill, taken with the poise of a veteran ten years Dele’s senior.

It was clear well before that goal that Dele was something special. After scoring his debut goal in an away match against Leicester City, the former MK Dons man went on to quickly make his case for inclusion in Mauricio Pochettino’s first team. By the time of the Palace goal, Dele was a regular starter for a Tottenham team in the midst of a surge that would eventually see them end the Premier League season in third place.

Dele would score 10 goals and set up nine assists by the end of the season. When he won the PFA Young Player of the Year though, it was this goal that likely stood out in voter’s minds.

Now, one year on, Tottenham celebrate Dele’s stunner with a beautiful hand drawn animation.

The video is a direct tribute to a similar animation composed following Gareth Bale’s superb San Siro hat-trick against Inter Milan in the 2010/11 Champions League group stage.

That’s no accident. Dele right now is in very much the same position Bale was following that fateful night in Milan. Both were young but precocious, seemingly right on the edge of becoming a full blown superstar.

For Tottenham, that proved a mixed blessing with Bale. In the two seasons that followed that hat-trick, Bale carried the team in a very real way. While most of the squad was aging or waning in ability, the Welshman was only gearing up.

It was no surprise when Real Madrid came calling with a record transfer bid in the summer of 2013. Tottenham hemmed and hawed but eventually accepted, thus earning a purse that they would use to go on and rebuild.

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There’s no immediate danger of the same happening with Dele. Tottenham under Pochettino have risen in stature enough that they are no longer a selling club. They retain their best players — just look how many waves of transfer rumors Harry Kane survived up to this point.

That hasn’t stopped some from speculating however. Just Sunday ESPN reported that Real Madrid were preparing a £50 million bid for the 20-year-old. With any luck Tottenham won’t be so tempted again.