Before Bellingham we had Alli: Dele's disappearing

When the curtain falls on Dele Alli’s career, the memory of his Italian adventure will be reduced to a single, sorrowful refrain: “10 minutes, one red card.” It feels like a tragic metaphor for what was once a glittering future. But perhaps it doesn’t have to end this way.

On Monday, Como confirmed that Alli’s contract — originally an 18-month deal — had been terminated by mutual consent, barely eight months after it began. His entire time in Italy came down to one late substitution in March, cut short almost immediately with a straight red for a rash foul on Milan’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Those brief minutes were not only his only action in Serie A, but also his only action in nearly two and a half years.

Now, Alli once more finds himself at a crossroads, released, searching for a way forward. It is a familiar scene. The midfielder who once carried the banner of English football is left to wonder where his next chapter lies.

The raw ability is not in doubt. There is still lightning in his stride, though increasingly it is obscured by the storm clouds of a career drifting off course. The prodigy has become a puzzle — a golden talent left on the shelf.

It’s remarkable how far things have shifted since his Tottenham heyday. Sir Alex Ferguson once drew parallels with Paul Gascoigne. His rise carried the kind of fanfare Jude Bellingham now enjoys. But the years since have been marked by unconvincing spells at Everton, Besiktas, and now Como. The question is whether there is still a spark left to reignite his story.

Back in England, the suitors lining up aren’t from the Premier League — at least, not yet. Championship clubs Birmingham City, Wrexham, and West Brom are said to be circling. Each offers something different.

Birmingham, buoyed by the investment and profile of NFL legend Tom Brady, are pushing ambitiously toward the top flight. Wrexham, propelled by the Hollywood backing of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, continue to live their fairytale project after splashing millions this summer. Alli, with his name and narrative, would slot neatly into their storybook world.

His history with the camera is already well-established. Few football clips are as memorable as Jose Mourinho’s warning during Spurs’ All or Nothing series on Amazon Prime. “I want just to tell you that I think you will regret,” Mourinho told him in a frank assessment, reminding him that brilliance alone was not enough. That exchange has aged heavily. At 29, approaching three years since his last full 90 minutes, Alli has far more to prove than just talent — he must show fitness, consistency, and commitment.

Even in Como, the signs were ominous. This summer, reports in La Gazzetta dello Sport suggested manager Cesc Fabregas had relegated him to train with the club’s outcasts, the so-called “bomb squad.” Details remain unclear, but the symbolism could not have been harsher.

At one point, whispers from Italy even hinted he was contemplating retirement. Perhaps he was. Perhaps he still is. Only Alli knows the truth.

What is certain is that football owes him nothing. And yet, for those who remember the dazzling goals, the audacity, the promise — it would be a thrill to see him rise again, to write something more fitting than a final act of exile. Alli himself once revealed he wakes each day to an alarm at 11am reading simply: “World Cup 2026.”

If that flame still flickers, the story is not over.