Arsenal legend Ray Parlour tells ‘unbelievable’ Dele Alli to ‘take a look at himself’ and rediscover former magic
ARSENAL legend Ray Parlour has admitted he’s baffled by Dele Alli’s decline.
Former England star Alli was one of Europe’s top midfielders during his time at Tottenham.
The 27-year-old has since been sold to Everton and, this season, has suffered a nightmare loan spell at Besiktas.
Alli has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a hip muscle injury and sent home from his miserable stint in Turkey.
He was even accused of going AWOL by Besiktas boss Senol Gunes last month, which Alli denied.
And, this week, he was pictured surrounded by laughing gas canisters and with a balloon in his mouth.
Speaking to TalkSPORT Arsenal invincible Parlour said that he’s unsure where it is going wrong for the former Spurs man.
He said: “He has to have a look at himself and say ‘Where do I want to go in my career? Do I want to get back into working hard?’
“It’s such a shame what’s happened with Dele Alli. What a player he was. I was at the game against Crystal Palace where he scored a brilliant goal for Spurs, on his chest. Unbelievable.
“A really top class talent. I don’t know what’s happened with his career, I really don’t.”
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Parlour questioned whether Alli still had that “buzz” for the game and said many players “fall out of love” with it and are just motivated by the money.
He added: “Whether it’s hunger, whether it’s that he doesn’t like football anymore. Some players don’t like football, they fall out of love with football.
“It’s a job for them at the end of the day. I mean, where does he go from here? He’s 27 years old.
“He should be in his prime now. He should probably be in that England squad if he kept his form going, he’d be in that midfield area for England.
“You can argue money talks. He’s earned lots of money in his career.
“I didn’t play for money. You play for enjoyment, going out playing in front of fans, being successful. Money comes with that.
“It’s all about what you do on the pitch. You go home and say ‘I really enjoyed that game! What a game, three points again, crowd were fantastic! ‘
“The buzz you get from walking on that pitch is amazing.
“You could get two-hundred grand a week, it wouldn’t matter to me. It’s that buzz you get.
“I’m sure Dele is the same. He’s not getting that buzz now.
“I don’t know where he goes from here on which is a shame because what a talent he was.”