Tottenham: Dele Alli Signs Six-Year Contract Extension

Tottenham are handing out contract extensions at a rapid pace with Dele Alli being the latest player to sign a long-term deal.

Dele Alli is the fifth Tottenham player to sign a contract extension this month, following in the footsteps of Tom Carroll, Harry Winks, Eric Dier and Christian Eriksen before him.

In a span of 13 days, Spurs tied down a portion of their core players for the long term at central and attacking midfield.

There will be more contract extensions happening later on this season with Harry Kane, Érik Lamela and Jan Vertonghen still in the process of signing new and improved deals.

Out of the five players who have secured their future with Spurs recently, Alli needed to sign a contract as soon as possible after his debut season last year.

Since joining Tottenham in January 2015, before returning to MK Dons on loan for the remainder of the 2014-15 season, Dele Alli would make his debut the following campaign.

It was a whirlwind of a season for the 20-year-old who made his mark in the Premier League. In 46 appearances in all competitions for Spurs, Alli scored 10 goals and had 11 assists. His volley against Crystal Palace last January was easily the goal of the season.

But the accolades didn’t end there.

Because of an excellent debut season, Alli would pick up the PFA Young Player of the Year Award (the fifth Tottenham player to win this award) and be named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.

In October 2015, he would earn a call-up to the England national team and since then, has made 12 appearances and scored one goal.

With a new season already underway, Dele Alli has surpassed 50 appearances for Spurs and added his 11th goal for the club against Stoke City.

Now that Alli has committed his future with Tottenham, the attacking midfielder spoke to Spurs’ official website about how things have been crazy since he made his first start against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light last year.

“I remember that game at Sunderland, I didn’t expect to play as quickly as I did and make an impact in the team,” Dele Alli said.

“It’s happened so quickly, starting at Tottenham, playing for England… it’s been a crazy year for me and there are so many people I have to thank.”

“I’m happy to be at this Club and I can’t thank the manager and all the staff enough for everything they’ve done for me, and the fans, they’ve been right behind me since I signed.”

“Hopefully there are a lot of good times to come.”

Tottenham are off to a slow start but currently find themselves sitting in third place and are one of three undefeated teams (Manchester City and Everton) in the Premier League.

After signing a new deal, Dele Alli knows that he needs to work even harder to keep his place in the team. Something that won’t be difficult but he isn’t going to be resting on his laurels.

“It was a crazy year and it still feels like a dream,” Alli added.

“I have to keep trying to improve, I can’t get carried away, I have to keep trying to make each year better than the last. This will be a tough year to top but hopefully I can do it.”