Assessing What Dele Alli Will Bring to Tottenham Hotspur This Summer

Using Gianvito Plasmati's momentum against him, Dele Alli faked left before shifting the ball back onto his right foot. The Leyton Orient man stumbled into the space left behind at the corner of the penalty area, and Alli proceeded to plant one in off the far post.

The satisfying, often graceful art of taking the ball past an opponent undoubtedly appeals to the confident young Milton Keynes Dons midfielder. Earlier in the 6-1 win over the O's which his goal capped off, he also won a penalty with a similarly bamboozling, jinking run.

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Alli's ability to manipulate the ball in such situations is but one strand of the repertoire—he has also scored 16 and set up a further 10 goals this season, as tallied by ESPN FC—causing such anticipation ahead of his joining up with Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

The 19-year-old signed for the Premier League club in February before being loaned back to recommence his education in League One for the season's remainder. Earlier this month, Bleacher Report's Sam Rooke outlined the precocious Alli's impressive progress. Recognition of which continues to see him receive an array of plaudits and awards—the latest being a place in the PFA's League One Team of the Year (see below).

Talented and with a chance of departing the Dons on a high (automatic promotion remains achievable with one match remaining), all being well Alli will hope to join his new team-mates full of confidence.

His new head coach Mauricio Pochettino's plans for him might not include first-team opportunities at Tottenham straightaway. But until such knowledge is confirmed, the possibility of Alli mixing things up in pre-season should not be dismissed.

Good performances in the friendlies during this period—which this summer includes only one outside of Europe, per Spurs' official website—do not guarantee a strong season.

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Etienne Capoue notably impressed anchoring Spurs' midfield during last summer's North American tour, enjoying the chance afforded him by the World Cup-enforced absences of Mousa Dembele and Paulinho. Once the Premier League season began, however, Capoue's comparatively assertive showings against Major League Soccer opposition did not translate as well as hoped.

The player who did provide the energy missing from Spurs' midfield, Ryan Mason, is an example of how hard work in pre-season can benefit a player, though.

Mason approached last summer from a different perspective to how Alli will this year. A Spurs academy product with a handful of senior appearances with them to his name (although he had been on several loan spells), the 23-year-old had nowhere near the exposure younger peers Nabil Bentaleb and Tom Carroll had received.

Capoue used games against Seattle Sounders, Toronto and Chicago Fire to remind people of qualities obscured by injuries in his first season in England. For Mason, it was effectively a blank slate in which to show himself off to the recently installed Pochettino.

But for injury prior to the match with Schalke, Mason likely would have been involved sooner. Nevertheless, his September Premier League bow was undoubtedly earned by his summertime demonstrations of the positive, spirited work that has since become a feature of Spurs' midfield.

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Accepting the aforementioned uncertainty over Pochettino's immediate intentions for him, Alli could be as primed—if not more so—as Mason to make an impression amid the heat of July and August.

Playing for a Premier League club is a big step up from League One. The gap proving a tad too big for Alli to overcome early on would be understandable.

However, pre-season friendlies are a relatively pressure-less environment in which to adjust to different changing-room expectations and new on-pitch realities. The zeal with which the teenager has already made his mark (including against a Premier League team in Manchester United in the Capital One Cup) suggests he will not be overawed either. His attacking style certainly lends itself to making an eye-catching impression.

The as-yet unconfirmed programme (save for the announced fixture versus the MLS All-Stars on July 29) might not provide too many exacting and competitive tests. But Alli can still do the things which convinced Spurs to sign him, and all within the framework Pochettino will be implementing at that point in their preparations. "The first period of pre-season is very important for our style and to set the basis of the team," the head coach said in March, per the Daily Express' Matthew Dunn.

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In the event of Alli settling down in a prompt and convincing fashion, it will ensure his new team-mates cannot phone in their own pre-season work. Or they risk potentially being upstaged in the way Mason last year did to others like Carroll and Lewis Holtby.

Indeed, both Mason and Bentaleb will need to be at it straightaway to sustain the momentum built over the last year. Alli's mixture of composure and timely adventurousness will also keep Dembele, Paulinho and Benjamin Stambouli on their toes in the battle for places (though their statuses may have changed given the more experienced trio's general lack of involvement of late).

Alli has a long road ahead of him if he is to turn his considerable potential into genuine, consistent top-level talent. There will be challenges ahead—"It won’t be easy and I’ll have fight for my place in the team but I’ll work hard to do that," he told his new club's official website upon his signing.

But without putting too much pressure on the young man, Tottenham have reason to hope he can become a contributor sooner rather than later.