Dele Alli has described Gareth Southgate’s new contract as “great news” and says the England manager brought the country together over the summer.
The Football Association were due to discuss Southgate’s future at a board meeting on Thursday, with the decision to keep him on expected to be confirmed in the next few weeks.
Southgate, whose current £1.5m-per-year deal expires in 2020, is set to remain in charge for the winter 2022 World Cup in Qatar, having guided England to the semi-finals in Russia for the first time in 28 years.
The 48-year-old’s salary is expected to rise to £2.5m a year, in line with what his predecessors, Sam Allardyce and Roy Hodgson, are believed to have earned.
Told of Southgate’s new deal, Tottenham and England midfielder Alli said: “It’s the first I’ve heard of it but that’s great news. You can see the way the [England] set-up is — there are a lot of positives to take since he’s come in. He has brought the country together after the World Cup.”
Alli enjoyed a dream homecoming at boyhood club MK Dons last night, twice scoring from the penalty spot in the Carabao Cup third-round win over Watford at Stadium:MK.
The 22-year-old, who was named Spurs captain for the first time, equalised in the 82nd minute after he was fouled and then scored the winning penalty as Spurs progressed 4-2 on spot-kicks after the match had ended 2-2.
“It was written that I was going to step up and I just had to put it in the back of the net,” he said of his winning penalty. “I don’t think there was extra pressure [playing here]. I enjoyed it, it was nice to come back and a great experience.”
In Pictures | EFL Cup third round
Asked if he would like to permanently captain his club or country in the future, Alli said: “If you asked the boys about my speech before the match, they might disagree! But I want to be a leader out there and whether I’ve got the armband or not is not important.
“[The armband] was a bit too big for me but it was a massive honour.”
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino refused to rule out returning to Stadium:MK, where Spurs requested to play because their new stadium is not finished, if they are drawn at home in the fourth round.
In front of a crowd of 23,650, Watford took the lead through Isaac Success at the start of the second half before they went down to 10 men after substitute Christian Kabasele was sent off for a tug on Alli.
Spurs looked to have completed the turnaround through Erik Lamela’s goal but their former midfielder Etienne Capoue forced penalties with a deflected strike.
“We showed great character after conceding a late equaliser,” said Alli.
Serge Aurier was due to be assessed on Thursday after limping off with a quad injury.
