Why Tottenham star Dele Alli is now worth £30m

Jan Vertonghen had never heard of Dele Alli before the teenager joined Tottenham but it has taken English football’s new star just five months to become the first name on the team sheet.

Rarely in the game has £5million been spent so wisely. Tottenham have been criticised in the past for their poor use of the transfer market but they deserve plenty of praise for showing faith in a player from League One when their rivals would not.

After Alli was man of the match in Spurs’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa in November, team-mate Vertonghen admitted: “Before he came here, I didn’t really know him. I don’t know anything about the lower leagues but this guy has impressed everyone since the first day we met.”

It is not easy for a 19-year-old to win the immediate respect of experienced international players.

Standard Sport examines how Alli has achieved it. Scroll through the gallery above to find out