Tottenham's Dele Alli Says Ronaldinho and Steven Gerrard Were His Idols

Dele Alli has said he idolised Ronaldinho when he was younger because the Brazilian "always looked like he was having fun." 

The Tottenham Hotspur playmaker also said he admired former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's "winning mentality."

Alli, 23, has enjoyed a remarkable rise to prominence since signing for Tottenham from MK Dons in 2015, and he has now explained how Ronaldinho and Gerrard inspired him when he was younger when asked by Goal's Florian Mesner and DAZN:

"Ronaldinho. And then Steven Gerrard. I used to watch a lot of YouTube clips of Ronaldinho when I was in school. [I liked] the way he enjoyed playing, he always looked like he was having fun. And that was the way I wanted to play as well. I've grown up playing a lot of street football, it was always fun and enjoyable and it was all about tricks and things like that.

"So when I started playing professionally I didn't want to fall out of love with the game. I wanted to do what made me happy, and you could see that with Ronaldinho. In everything he's done, he looked like he was enjoying it. And then Steven Gerrard. His attitude and his mentality—his winning mentality. He was captain for England and Liverpool and you could see how much he wanted to win every game, so I felt like I could relate to both players."

Alli made his debut for MK Dons' senior side in 2012 at just 16 years old.

He has since established himself as one of the most consistent players in the Premier League and a vital part of Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs side.

The 2018-19 campaign, on a personal level, was a slight disappointment for Alli as he only managed to score five times and provide three assists in the Premier League, some way down from his best return of 18 goals and seven assists in 2016-17.

He did, though, help Spurs secure a fourth consecutive top-four finish as well as appearing in his first UEFA Champions League final.

Spurs will be hoping for an even better campaign in 2019-20 after finally seeing some investment in the squad.

Tanguy Ndombele has been signed from Lyon for a club-record £53.8 million fee, and Philippe Coutinho and Paulo Dybala have both been linked with moves to Spurs before the transfer window closes on Thursday:

Tottenham kick off the new campaign with a home clash against newly promoted Aston Villa on Saturday before they face defending Premier League champions Manchester City a week later.

Alli will be unavailable for Spurs' early-season fixtures after a recurrence of the hamstring injury that has dogged him recently:

Pochettino seems confident, though, that the problem is not too serious, a big boost for Spurs as they will need the Englishman back soon if they are to make a strong start to the campaign.