Dele Alli has said his initial target with Tottenham Hotspur this season was to start 10 games, another illustration of the 20-year-old’s rapid progression from League One midfielder to Premier League title contender in the space of 12 months.
Already on 35 starts in all competitions, along with 10 appearances from the bench, one of the season’s standout players last night reached 10 goals for the campaign with a brace in the 4-0 win at Stoke City. He will realign his benchmark again next season but the small matter of closing in on Leicester City, whose lead was cut to five points with four games to play, is now the priority.
“When I signed my target was to get 10 starts but after I got a run of games I wanted to get 10 goals and happily I’ve reached that target,” Alli said after Monday night’s clinical performance at the Britannia. “Now I can set a benchmark for myself for next season and I’ve got to set it even higher.”
The immediate priority, though, remains hauling in Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester, who dropped two points at home to West Ham on Sunday. “We showed what we are all about,” Alli said when asked if Spurs had the mentality to become champions. “We won’t stop fighting until the end of the season. Stoke is never an easy place to come and it was a strong performance. We created a lot of chances and could have scored a lot more. It’s a good statement.”
Eight of his goals have come away from White Hart Lane but Alli believes that is coincidental. “We look to go into every game with the same philosophy and playing the same sort of way so I don’t know why that’s happened. It’s just one of those things.”
He is also the favourite to be named PFA Young Player of the Year on Sunday, an award won last season by his team-mate Harry Kane. Alli would become the fourth Spurs player in five years to win the award but to be nominated alone comes as a pleasant surprise. “ I remember I was there last year for League One team of year and saw Kane win it,” he recalled. “I can’t say I imagined myself winning it this year. Even to be nominated is a great feeling for me and it’s a been great year.”
