Dele Alli for Celtic?

It's the left-field shout that's been doing the rounds on social media and it has polarised opinion. Alli is a free agent this summer and at 28 he has one final career swansong in him. Could that be in Glasgow's east end?

The Celtic Way happened to mention this very fact on the Morning Briefing not long ago, and let's just say it split opinion. What's indisputable, however, is the fact that Alli is a supreme football talent - in his day, at least. 

The former Tottenham and England international needs direction and guidance. Could Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers offer Alli a redemption arc with the Scottish champions? It could offer a fairy tale ending to a football story.

In an emotional warts and all interview warts with former Manchester United star Gary Neville last July on his podcast 'The Overlap', the player bravely and rather astonishingly revealed how he was abused as a child.

Yet once upon a time, he was one of football's brightest young talents. He won the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Alli was considered the world's most expensive midfielder from a transfer value perspective by the CIES (The International Centre for Sports Studies).

He was part of the England squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and he helped Tottenham get to the Champions League final in 2019.

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However, his form dramatically dipped from thereon, and he left Spurs to join Everton in February 2022 before going on loan to Turkish side Besiktas for the 2022/23 season. Renowned football journalist Phil McNulty said of Alli that his career trajectory was one of a "dramatic decline... from the golden boy of English football to lost talent."

By April 2024, Alli had not played for Everton at all in the 2023–24 season after sustaining a groin injury at the end of 2023. He earned the last of his 37 England caps in 2019 and despite being without a club he admitted that he was using the next World Cup as motivation as he targeted an ambitious comeback.

Thankfully, Alli is in a much better space mentally and he has even set reminders on his phone as he intends to go about winning an England recall for the 2026 World Cup finals being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.

In April, he made a heart-warming heart-warming appearance on Sky’s Monday Night Football, as he updated everyone about his mental health and his plan to get back to the top level.

Alli said: "You can set reminders on your phone. I have a reminder at 11 o’clock every day – World Cup 2026.

“That’s my aim for now. People will be like, ‘he hasn’t played in a year’ but I know where my level is.

“My mind is to take it day by day, make sure my injury heals right and make sure I’m in the best possible condition after the summer. I’ll be fully training just as the season is ending, which is annoying, but I can’t rush it.”

Could this be where Celtic and Rodgers come in?

Matt O'Riley could soon be on his way to the English Premier League for a record Scottish transfer fee if Brighton and Hove Albion have their way. If Celtic could negotiate a decent wage structure and package then Rodgers could maybe unearth the like-for-like replacement for O'Riley in free agent Alli.

After all, Alli was once a world-class talent. His then Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, said this about him in 2017: "In the box, he looks like a striker, and outside the box, he plays like a midfielder."

Former Tottenham teammate Rafael van der Vaart said that Alli was: "fast, fluid and has a great skill set", while former Everton boss Frank Lampard praised Alli's intelligence in his ability "to get into the box without being marked".

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All of those qualities would not go amiss at Celtic considering they are heading into the new Champions League league phase. Alli also has the big-game experience to boot. Rodgers is the kind of manager who loves a challenge and signing a player like Alli would be right up his street. I'm sure Rodgers would love to be the boss to offer a comforting shoulder and get his ailing career back on track.

If Alli could prove that he has put his mental health problems and issues behind him then Rodgers is the kind of elite-level manager who could dredge up and dig out the player's world-class talent.

Given a spiritual football home then there is no telling what Alli could produce under Rodgers. The Irishman could easily sprinkle that managerial magic dust on him.

Talents like Alli are not to be sniffed at, especially when he is available on a free transfer. If Alli could prove that his head was back in the game then it would be a game-changer for Rodgers and Celtic.

Alli would still be at a massive club. He would still get to play European football at the highest possible club level in the Champions League, the Celtic fans would adore him, and he would have the chance to become a hero at Celtic.

He could also restore some of his battered football honour, reputation and prestige by winning some silverware as well as regaining his confidence by scoring goals both at the domestic and hopefully, European level.

Rodgers's managerial forte is improving players and he has a considerable and impressive track record on this. You only need to look at his first spell as Celtic manager when he improved Scott Sinclair, Scott Brown, Ryan Christie, Callum McGregor and polished up rough gems like Odsonne Edouard and Moussa Dembele. He could surely work another miracle with Alli , couldn't he?

It was Rodgers who gave an invaluable insight into how he went about the business of improving players by stating this last June: "It's first sitting with the player and understanding their ambition, what is it they want to do and what they want to achieve and then come up with a plan for the individual. In any line of work whether it's football or business you want to know that someone cares for you and if someone cares for you then you tend to grow and develop from that.

"It is in my nature to care for players, I want to help them be the best they can be because their careers are short. So that individuals meet, I check their level of commitment, and we work together on a plan to make them the best they can be. Then what I ensure to them is that the responsibility is ours and I will help them develop to be the best player they can be.

"I've done that throughout my career taking young players and giving them a platform. When they show me they care, I give them everything. When they show me they don't care, I couldn't care less. The last time I was at Celtic, I had players who wanted to be better, they wanted to improve and that hunger was there. You saw them improve and they developed and they did well.

"It's the exact same this time. I will get to know the players, and what makes them tick, I will get them onto the grass and help their confidence, I will work with them technically and broaden their view tactically of the game and I will make them feel that they could go into any stadium and make sure they've got the personality to play in the Celtic jersey. That's what I have always done, I did it in my time here before and I'll continue to do it."

That sounds like it is a motivational football speech which is tailor-made for a player like Dele Alli, doesn't it?

A major change of scenery as well as playing and training in an enjoyable football environment combined with a winning culture and the chance to win silverware as well as gain access to Champions League football could also be what Dele needs right now in his career if he is to have any chance of fulfilling his World Cup 2026 dream.

It was former Celtic scout Peter Houston who once confessed in 2017: "I used to work for a short spell at Celtic and John Park had a list of players and Dele Alli was on that list."

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Celtic have been linked to £4.5 million rated Lausanne midfielder Alvyn Sanches as well as Augsburg's Belgian midfielder Arne Engels who is quoted as being in the £10 million bracket in the last week.

If Celtic were smart they should consider adding Dele to that burgeoning list if O'Riley is to depart Parkhead in the next 10 days.

Dele Alli for Celtic? It's not the worst shout there is. You can imagine both Rodgers and Dele pulling off one of football's greatest-ever redemption arcs at Celtic.

Although if the move were to come to fruition it might take forever to get used to the Celtic supporters singing the praises of their own 'Super Alli'.