Rio Ferdinand thinks that Dele Alli is a physical "machine" after his fast start to the new Premier League season.
Alli had a difficult couple of years in north London after falling out of favour under former Spurs boss, Jose Mourinho, and in that time, he looked a shadow of his former-self after setting such high-standards during Mauricio Pochettino's reign.
However, after positive performances against Manchester City, Wolves, and Watford respectively, Alli has once again proved that he can produce quality performances at the highest level.
In the weekend’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, the 25-year-old was deployed in a slightly more advanced role, but with three defensive-minded midfielders behind him in Harry Winks, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp, he found it slightly more difficult to operate on that occasion.
Nevertheless, he has already done enough this season to impress the likes of Ferdinand.
"Physically he can overpower, he can dominate, he can outrun most players around," he told BT Sport, via HITC, prior to Tottenham’s first domestic defeat of the season at Selhurst Park.
"Physically he is a machine, he is a specimen."
Although he didn’t have a great game against the Eagles – which can be said for most of the Spurs contingent on Saturday – there can be no denying that he has looked like the Alli of old on most occasions so far this season.
Nuno Espirito Santo clearly rates the Englishman, and if he continues to back him as expected, Tottenham could well reap the rewards.
We don’t yet know whether Alli will start against Rennes in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, but he should be involved in the huge London derby with Chelsea three days later.
