Dele Alli

Milton Keynes Dons

Early career

Dele joined the youth system at Milton Keynes Dons when he was 11 years old after playing for City Colts. He made his debut for the first team as a sixteen-year-old on 2 November 2012, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Jay O'Shea in a 0–0 draw with Southern Football League club Cambridge City in the FA Cup first round at Milton Road. His first touch in professional football was a back-heeled pass. His first goal came in the replay against Cambridge eleven days later, where he scored in a 6–1 win at Stadium MK on his first start. He made his league debut in a 2–3 defeat to Coventry City at home on 29 December, where he played 71 minutes before being replaced by Zeli Ismail. His only other league appearance in the 2012–13 Football League One season, came as a second-half substitute for Patrick Bamford in the last match of the season, a 2–0 win over Stevenage at Broadhall Way.

2013–14 season

The 2013–14 season saw Dele break into the MK Dons first team on a regular basis. He started the Dons' first league match of the season, a 0–0 draw away at Shrewsbury Town. In his first Football League Trophy appearance, Dele scored to help MK Dons beat Northampton Town 2–0 and thus progress to the second round of the tournament. On 28 September, Dele scored his first professional league goal in a 4–1 win against Stevenage. After injury setbacks in late 2013, Dele subsequently established himself as a first-choice…

Dele made several appearances at U17 and U18 levels for England. On 27 August 2014, Dele was called up to the England U19 squad following an impressive start to the campaign. He made his debut for England U19 in the 1–1 draw against Germany U19. In the match, Dele assisted the opening goal feeding a through ball to Bradley Fewster who gave England a 1–0 lead.

In February 2015, it was reported that John Fashanu would try to convince Dele to play for Nigeria. However, on 1 October of that year, he was included in Roy Hodgson's England squad for the final UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Estonia and Lithuania. He made his debut against the former on 9 October, coming on as a late substitute for Ross Barkley in a 2–0 win. On 17 November 2015, Dele made his first start for the England senior team, scoring the opening goal from a long range shot to beat Spurs teammate, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in a 2–0 win against France at Wembley Stadium. He was again named in the starting line-up for England's friendly match against world champions Germany on 26 March 2016. Dele was named man of the match by the BBC Sport as England recovered from 0–2 down to win 3–2 at the Berlin Olympiastadion. He was selected for Gareth Southgate's 23-man England squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 7 July, Dele scored the second goal of the game in a 2–0 win over Sweden in the quarter-finals of the competition, as England reached the semi-finals for the first time in 28 years. Dele played for…

Club

As of match played 15 March 2025

International

As of match played 9 June 2019

As of match played 9 June 2019. England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Dele goal.

Dele was born in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, to a Yoruba Nigerian father, Kehinde, and an English mother, Denise. Kehinde moved to the United States a week after Dele's birth. He was initially brought up by his mother, who suffered from alcohol problems. At the age of nine, he moved to Nigeria with his father, where he spent two years in an international school, before returning to Milton Keynes to live with his mother. Dele went to Stantonbury Campus and The Radcliffe School in Wolverton. At the age of 13, he moved into the family home of Alan and Sally Hickford, parents of another footballer from MK Dons's youth system and whom he refers to as his "adoptive parents", although he was never legally adopted by them. In the summer of 2016, Alli announced that he would stop having his surname on match shirts, instead opting for "Dele", since he felt no connection with his biological father's family. Dele was a Liverpool fan growing up with Steven Gerrard his childhood idol, seeing Gerrard and Frank Lampard as good role models for their professionalism. He is also a fan of British hip hop music, which led to the rapper Cadet releasing a single, "Advice", that references the footballer. On 13 May 2020, Dele was held at knifepoint during a burglary by two men who broke into his house in north London. He was punched and suffered minor facial injuries. The burglars stole various pieces of jewelry, including watches. In May 2021, he was spotted kissing Pep Guardiola's daughter…