Former Tottenham star Dele Alli is reportedly considering retirement at the age of 29 after being told he is not in Cesc Fabregas' plans at Como for the upcoming Serie A season. The midfielder, who joined the Italian club earlier this year, has been training away from the first team and is now weighing up his next move, according to Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport.
Alli's career has been in decline since leaving Tottenham for Everton in 2021. He struggled for form at Goodison Park and endured a disastrous loan spell at Turkish side Besiktas in 2022-23. After being released by Everton in 2024, Como and Fabregas gave him a chance, but his debut ended in disaster when he was sent off just ten minutes after coming on as a substitute for a rash challenge on Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He has not played for the club since.
The 37-cap England international once scored 18 Premier League goals in the 2016-17 season as Spurs finished second. However, his struggles were highlighted in Tottenham's Amazon documentary 'All or Nothing', where then-manager Jose Mourinho criticised his work ethic. Alli later revealed in a 2023 interview with Gary Neville that he had been sexually abused as a child and had struggled with mental health issues, including an addiction to sleeping pills that led to rehab.
Alli admitted during that interview that he had contemplated retiring at 24 under Mourinho, saying: 'One morning I woke up and I had to go to training – this is when he'd stopped playing me – and I was in a bad place. I was literally staring in the mirror and I was asking if I could retire now, at 24, doing the thing I love. That was heartbreaking.' With few options available, retirement now appears a real possibility for the former wonderkid.
