Simon Jordon believes Dele Alli has "wasted everybody's time" after the former Tottenham star's career took a turn for the worse.
Alli, who turned 27 on Tuesday, was once regarded as one of the brightest prospects in Europe. The attacking midfielder broke into England's senior team at the age of 19 and was named as the Professional Footballers' Association's Young Player of the Year twice.
Yet Alli has struggled for form in recent years. He joined Everton on a free transfer in January 2022 and was sent on loan to Turkish outfit Besiktas last summer. He has since returned to England for treatment on an injury and hasn't played for nearly two months.
Alli hit the headlines for the wrong reasons on Monday, when he was pictured with a balloon in his mouth while appearing to be surrounded by canisters of laughing gas. The footballer hasn't spoken out on the matter, but Jordan has offered his take.
The former Crystal Palace owner, who is now a prominent pundit on radio station talkSPORT, has criticised Alli for failing to make the most of his unquestionable talent. "Dele Alli, for two or three years now, has wasted everybody’s time," Jordan told talkSPORT.
"His own, his employers', his teammates'. He’s a shadow of himself and he’s chosen this path. He’s chosen this path beyond documentaries like ‘All or Nothing’ where you get to see a laughing, gurning idiot being told by his manager that he doesn’t train very well."
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Jordan was referring to a conversation between Alli and Jose Mourinho in 2020, when the latter was in charge of Tottenham. At the time, the England international was struggling for form following the departure of Mourinho's predecessor Mauricio Pochettino.
Mourinho told Alli, "I am 56 now, and yesterday, yesterday, I was 20. In no time. Time flies. One day, I think you will regret if you don't reach what you can reach.
"I'm not expecting you to be the man of the match every game, I'm not expecting you to score goals every game. I want to tell you that I think you will regret.
"You should demand more from you. Not me demanding more from you. Not me. Nobody. You. I think you should demand more from you."
Yet Mourinho's advice was not put to good use, as Alli scored just one Premier League goal between between August 2020 and January 2022. That persuaded Tottenham to part company with the player, despite his valuation once topping £100million.
Alli failed to find his feet at Everton before joining Besiktas, where he's scored just three goals in 15 games. The midfielder is not expected to re-join their squad before the end of the season, while Everton are reportedly considering terminating his contract.
Right now, it's unclear where Alli's future lies. Jordan has urged the fallen star to realise the severity of his situation before it's too late, although he doubts Alli will do that.
Jordan added, "You get to see someone turning up at Everton on a move which was a downward move in terms of there was no real fee involved. That was the valuation of him... he should turn up looking like someone who respects the environment he's in."
