Who has the brighter future: Tottenham’s Dele Alli or Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford?
Dele Alli and Marcus Rashford have exploded onto the English football scene this season in very different fashions. Which starlet has the brighter future?
Dele Alli and Marcus Rashford have both taken the Premier League by storm this season at the bright ages of 20 and 18-years-old, respectively. Both seem to have a blindingly bright future, but which one will have the better career over the long haul?
For the purposes of this discussion we’re going to evaluate the player over the next ten seasons. That’ll take the Tottenham star to his 30th birthday and the United man into his late-20s. That should allow for both to fully exhaust their prime footballing years.
In some ways, it’s a difficult chore to compare the two since they play two different positions. Even so, both are immensely talented attacking players that derive the majority of their benefit from that side of the pitch. It is like comparing apples to oranges, but at least we’re talking about two varieties of fruit.
More from Playing for 90
- Alexia Putellas reaches 400 games with Barcelona
- Everything you need to know ahead of the 250th ‘Super Clásico’
- Barcelona put five past Real Betis
- Manchester City suffer but come away with win over West Ham
- Baffling Liga MX ruling strips Puebla of a hard-earned victory
The case for Dele Alli
The Tottenham starlet has been absolutely sensational for manager Mauricio Pochettino this season. He entered the campaign fighting for a place in Spurs’ crowded midfield rotation and he’ll finish off the year as the side’s unquestioned starter in central midfield. It’s a meteoric rise for a player who was starring at MK Dons just 12 months ago.
Alli has shown the ability to make magnificent plays on a regular basis, but he’s also been remarkably consistent considering his age. In 32 Premier League appearances he’s posted a Whoscored.com player rating average of 7.35 which puts him among the highest scoring midfielders in England’s top-flight. He’s also poured in an impressive 10 goals and nine assists on the season which have been a huge factor in Tottenham’s offensive revolution.
The precocious youngster has used his play for Tottenham to catapult him into the England senior team as well. Just a few short months ago he was a fringe member of the squad, but after his play as of late he’s a good bet to start as Roy Hodgson’s number 10 for Euro 2016. He isn’t intimidated by any opponent on any occasion.
It’s hard to imagine Alli not continuing to develop at a pretty high clip given Pochettino’s management style. He’s already playing at a star level and if he gets even marginally better over the next several seasons, he’s going to be a world-class superstar.
He’s got the brighter future when compared to Rashford because he’s already shown he can handle the big moment. He’s playing at a star level already, and any further development will make him one of the world’s best midfielders. It’s impossible to bet on any young starlet having a better career than Tottenham’s Dele Alli.
The case for Marcus Rashford
Those who tout Rashford as the superior prospect will point to the fact that he’s even younger than Alli. He’s burst onto the attacking scene for Manchester United late in the season at just 18 years of age and has provided Louis van Gaal’s squad with four important goals in just eight Premier League matches.
He’s also got the advantage of playing for one of England’s richest clubs. If he continues to perform at a high level as the team’s striker, he’s going to enjoy playing with a myriad of world-class superstars around him in attack. That’s going to cause his goal tally to skyrocket and his game to develop.
You may prefer Rashford to Alli based on his positional value as well. Quality attacking midfielders don’t exactly grow on trees, but top-notch strikers are the most valuable commodity in football. If Rashford can prove himself as an internal solution to that problem for Manchester United he’ll be one of the biggest star strikers in the world.
Rashford has more career development in front of him than Alli and that’s why he should have the edge. He has two additional seasons to catch up to what Dele Alli has provided for Tottenham this season.
Related Story: Tottenham's starting 11 for 2016/17
The right call
If you think Marcus Rashford has a higher ceiling that Dele Alli then you might want to consider focusing your fandom on darts from now on. Rashford has a chance to be a really good Premier League striker, but he lacks the superstar quality that Alli has oozing out of his pores.
Dele Alli is on his way to being a world-class attacking midfielder, and that gives him the brighter future over United’s talented striker.