Karl Robinson has revealed he pinned Everton midfielder Dele Alli up against a wall when the two worked together at MK Dons.
Dele started his professional career at MK Dons before his impressive form at such a young age caught the eye of the Premier League as he sealed a move to Tottenham Hotspur, who last night sacked their manager.
Dele went on to become of the best young players in the world at Spurs, helping them to the 2019 Champions League final, which they lost to Liverpool, and winning 37 caps for England.
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But after his form declined, the 26-year-old was allowed to move to Everton in January 2022. However, the move has not worked out and in August he was sent on a season-long loan to Besiktas.
Dele's troubles have continued in Turkey. He is reportedly no longer part of Senol Gunes' plans and last week the Besiktas manager suggested Dele had 'gone AWOL' from training.
They were claims denied by both the player's representatives and then the player himself. One of Dele's Besiktas team-mates, fellow England international Nathan Redmond, has also spoke out in defence of the Blues star.
And now Merseyside-born Robinson has shared a memory of Dele after he burst on to the scene as a teenager in League One with MK Dons.
“If you look at the data he’s one of the hardest-working, highest distance-covered players playing," Robinson told talkSPORT. "I think that his persona can sometimes look flippant. He can look labored, but he always had that.
“I remember pinning him up against the wall at times. I remember him being dragged in a dressing room once by a senior player because he had this look on his face which was a smirk – I lost it with him and a senior player lost it with him as well.
“He wasn’t smirking, it was just him. I remember speaking to him after and he said, ‘gaffer, I wasn’t trying to be rude or disrespectful’. When you listen to him you go, ‘oh okay, I get you a little bit more’.
“The more you’re with him and the more time you spend with him, the more you understand him and the more he is a kind and caring human being."
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