Tottenham won’t be crushed if Dele Alli departs

By Rucker Haringey | Sep 24, 2017

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 23: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his sides second goal with Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium on September 23, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images) /

Dele Alli may leave Tottenham this summer

Tottenham should certainly do everything they can to keep Dele Alli, but Spurs won’t be crushed if the precocious starlet does leave this summer. His exit would not impact the club in the same way that Gareth Bale’s decision to head to Real Madrid did.

When Bale departed for Spain it rocked the club to the very core. Some Spurs fans might disagree with that assertion, but the club spent money like never before to purchase seven new stars that summer. That hardly represents business as usual for Daniel Levy and company.

Dele leaving for a club like Real Madrid would put a dent in Tottenham’s momentum, but it wouldn’t fundamentally alter Mauricio Pochettino’s project. He’s an exceptional talent and key member of the squad, but he’s not necessarily irreplaceable.

While Pochettino certainly enjoys having Dele in the squad, he isn’t necessarily his prototypical attacking midfielder. In a vacuum, the Argentine gaffer would prefer a more physical attacker who is ideally suited to play at both ends of the pitch. Someone like Ivan Perisic would really suit Pochettino perfectly.

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Again, I’m not saying that Pochettino, or anyone at Spurs should want Dele to leave. The club should do everything within reason to retain his services. I’m only pointing out that he isn’t necessarily the perfect player for the way Pochettino wants his squad to play.

I’m also not making the assertion that Tottenham wouldn’t spend big to replace him. If Dele left, Spurs would almost certainly look for a relatively high-profile replacement in the transfer market. It’s highly likely the club would elect to break their transfer record once again.

Spurs would not, however, feel the need to entirely revamp their squad by purchasing seven players to fill Dele’s void. They might elect to purchase two or three players to upgrade the squad, but a sale of Dele would not lead to wholesale changes. Pochettino would still be left with ten quality starters and a handful of above average bench players. That wasn’t the case for AVB when Bale moved abroad.

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Rumours of Dele Alli leaving Tottenham will continue to pop up until he ultimately makes the decision to leave Spurs. Thinking he’s a lifelong Spurs player is wildly optimistic. The good news is that if he does leave, Tottenham are well positioned to replace him and continue their forward momentum without too much fuss.

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