Serie A News
Dele Alli to Monza? This Could Be His Last Chance to Save His Football Career
England player Dele Alli to Monza could become one of the most unexpected comeback stories of the 2026 summer transfer window.
At 30, the former Tottenham and England midfielder is no longer the wonderkid who once appeared destined to dominate English football for a decade. He is now a free agent, trying to convince another club that the player who scored 51 Premier League goals in 194 appearances is still somewhere inside him.
Monza have reportedly considered a move for Dele Alli as the summer transfer window approaches its final week. Although the situation remains tentative rather than a confirmed negotiation. Recent Italian reporting suggests Alli’s representatives have offered him to clubs, while wider reporting has also identified Monza as a possible destination.
That distinction matters. Because if Monza do decide to take the gamble, they will not simply be signing an experienced midfielder.
They will be betting on one of football’s most complicated comeback stories.
And there is a potentially fascinating question underneath it all: does Dele Alli still have enough football left to make the risk worthwhile?
Dele Alli’s Career Has Fallen a Long Way
Dele Alli celebrates scoring his first-ever goal for Tottenham Hotspur during a Premier League match against Leicester City on August 22, 2015.
There was a time when Dele Alli looked almost unstoppable. At Tottenham, he was not merely a promising young midfielder. He was one of the most productive attacking midfielders in Europe.
His movement into the box, instinct for arriving at the right moment and ability to score spectacular goals made him a central figure in Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham side.
He won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in consecutive seasons and became a full England international while still remarkably young.
He also became one of the faces of an England generation that reached the 2018 World Cup semi-finals. Then the trajectory changed.
Injuries began interrupting his rhythm. His form declined. His confidence appeared to disappear. Moves to Everton and Besiktas failed to restore the consistency that had once made him one of England’s most exciting players.
The numbers tell the story. Dele Alli has made only 37 league appearances since 2021, according to the supplied account, while his last Premier League appearance came in 2022. His last competitive appearance before his return with Como was in February 2023 for Besiktas.
That is an extraordinary amount of football lost for a player who should still have been approaching his prime. But the most important part of Alli’s story cannot be measured in appearances.
Dele Alli: The Personal Battle Behind the Football
English professional footballer Dele Alli during his guest appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football program.
In 2023, Dele Alli gave an emotional interview in which he spoke publicly about severe childhood trauma, including sexual abuse, and the difficulties that followed him into adulthood.
He also discussed struggles with addiction and his mental health. That interview changed the way many people viewed his career.
For years, it had been easy to reduce Alli’s decline to football. Bad form. Poor decisions. Injuries. A lack of motivation.
But his story was considerably more complicated.
The footballer that supporters saw struggling on the pitch was also dealing with problems that had nothing to do with formations, tactics or transfer fees.
That context does not erase the sporting consequences of his decline. But it does explain why his comeback should be viewed differently.
When Dele Alli continues training and searches for another opportunity at 30, he is not simply trying to recover a lost career.
He is attempting to rebuild something that has been damaged on several levels. And that requires an enormous amount of courage.
Como Was Supposed to Be the Beginning of the Comeback for Dele Alli
English professional footballer Dele Alli wearing a Como 1907 training kit.
When Como signed Dele Alli in January 2025, the move appeared to offer the perfect environment.
Cesc Fàbregas was managing the Italian club, and Como were building an ambitious project after returning to Serie A.
Dele Alli joined on an initial 18-month contract after training with the club, with the intention of gradually rebuilding his fitness rather than being immediately thrown into competitive football.
There was reason for optimism. Fàbregas had spoken about patience.
Como believed Dele Alli could contribute not only on the pitch but also through his experience around younger players.
The problem was that football does not always cooperate with the perfect comeback narrative. Dele Alli finally returned against AC Milan in March 2025.
He came on in the 81st minute. Nine minutes later, he was sent off.
His challenge on Ruben Loftus-Cheek was initially shown as a yellow card before VAR intervention resulted in a red card. I card was Alli’s first professional appearance in 748 days.
Instead of a triumphant return, it became another painful chapter. Como later terminated his contract by mutual agreement after just one appearance.
For Dele Alli, it must have been devastating.
But perhaps the biggest mistake would be to treat those nine minutes as the final definition of his career.
Why Monza Could Still Make Sense for Dele Alli
On paper, Monza taking a chance on Alli looks risky. The club cannot simply assume that the Tottenham version of Alli will suddenly reappear.
There is no guarantee that he can handle the intensity of Serie A. There is no guarantee that his body will withstand the demands of regular football.
And perhaps most importantly, there is no guarantee that he can rediscover the confidence required to perform consistently after so much time away.
But there is another side to the equation. Dele Alli is a free agent.
That means Monza would not have to pay a transfer fee. The risk would primarily involve wages, fitness, medical assessment and the opportunity cost of giving him a squad place.
For a club that needs to be careful with resources, that could make a short-term deal considerably more attractive. A one-year contract with performance-related incentives could be the logical structure.
Monza would protect themselves. Dele Alli would receive the opportunity he desperately needs.
And football would get to find out whether there is still something there.
The Real Question Is Not Whether Dele Alli Can Play
Dele Alli smiling and doing his signature eye celebration while wearing the white Beşiktaş home kit with Rain and Adidas sponsors.
The biggest question surrounding Alli is not whether he still possesses footballing ability. He obviously does.
Players do not accidentally produce the level of football Dele Alli produced at Tottenham.
The more difficult question is whether he can consistently reproduce it.
There is a huge difference between being technically capable of playing football and being physically and psychologically prepared to compete every week.
Alli’s problem is therefore likely to be rhythm. He needs minutes. Then more minutes. Then consecutive appearances. And then starts. Then pressure. Then another match. And another.
Only through that process can anyone determine what remains of the player.
A ten-minute cameo tells us almost nothing. A full season tells us everything.
That is why Monza would need patience if they took the gamble.
Monza Cannot Afford to Turn This Into a Charity Story
This is where the romantic side of the story must stop. Football is ultimately a results business. Monza cannot sign Dele Alli simply because everyone wants to see him succeed.
They have their own ambitions and problems. The club has returned to Serie A and needs to establish itself at the highest level.
Their 2026-27 campaign has already begun badly, with a 4-1 defeat against Inter according to the information supplied for this story. That makes the decision even more complicated.
A team fighting for survival cannot afford to carry players who are not ready.
If Dele Alli joins, he has to earn his place. He cannot expect to start because of his reputation.
He cannot expect patience forever because of his personal story. And he certainly cannot expect opponents to care about his comeback narrative.
The Premier League taught him that. Serie A will teach him the same lesson. But Imagine If It Actually Works.
This is where the risk becomes fascinating. Imagine Alli arrives at Monza on a one-year deal. He spends the first month rebuilding his match fitness.
Then he gets 20 minutes. Then 30. And then a start. Suddenly, he scores.
A few weeks later, he creates a goal. Then he starts regularly. The confidence returns. The movement returns. And the timing returns.
Suddenly, the conversation changes. People stop asking whether Dele Alli is finished. They start asking how far he can go.
That is not impossible. It is simply extremely difficult. Football has produced remarkable comebacks before, and Alli is still only 30.
His age is important. Thirty is not old for a professional footballer.
For a player who has missed so much football, however, it effectively becomes a race against time.
Verdict: Dele Alli Needs One Last Chance
Dele Alli wearing an orange and navy Tottenham Hotspur training top, clapping his hands during a practice session.
Dele Alli does not need football to recreate the teenager who once terrified Premier League defences. That player may never return.
What he needs is something more realistic: a stable environment, regular football, patience and the chance to become a different version of himself.
Monza could provide that opportunity. But they should not sign him because of nostalgia.
They should sign him only if their medical and performance assessments convince them that his body can cope and that his hunger to compete remains. For Alli, however, the opportunity could be enormous.
His career has already gone from Tottenham superstar to free agent. His comeback at Como lasted only nine minutes before ending in a red card, and he subsequently spent another period outside competitive football.
Now, at 30, he may have one more door opening.
If Monza walk through it with him, they could either be taking one of the riskiest gambles in Serie A or discovering one of the most remarkable comeback stories football has seen in years.
Sportxparte verdict: Monza should consider the deal but only on a short-term, incentive-heavy contract. Dele Alli deserves another chance, but this time his comeback has to be built on football rather than reputation.
