‘Get out – leave’: Garth Crooks wants £100k-a-week Spurs ace to go in January

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Tottenham Hotspur icon Garth Crooks has urged Dele Alli to leave Spurs as soon as possible for his own good.

The 24-year-old has made just five starts for Spurs in 2020-21 and has twice been replaced at half-time, coming off against Everton in the Premier League and Antwerp in the Europa League.

Last week, Jose Mourinho gave Alli his first start since 26 November in Tottenham’s League Cup quarter-final tie at Stoke.

However, the Spurs boss took him off in the 66th minute and criticised him after the game, accusing him of “creating problems for his own team” for his role in the opposition’s goal.

Alli gave the ball away from which Stoke went on to score an equaliser, though Spurs ran out 3-1 winners in the end.

On Sunday, the England international was once again not involved, sitting on the substitutes’ bench for the whole game as Spurs played out a 1-1 draw at Wolves.

“I said only a few weeks ago that Jose Mourinho was up to his old tricks again,” Crooks wrote on BBC Sport.

“He can’t help himself. This time he’s using Dele Alli in order to shine the media torch on himself.

“After Tottenham’s dismal performance against Leicester – losing 2-0 at home in the league – Spurs went on to beat Stoke and reach the Carabao Cup semi-final.

“Instead of being content with simply congratulating his players, Mourinho goes out of his way to publicly humiliate Alli.

“Mourinho has made a habit of treating big names with contempt. He did it with Joe Cole when he was at Chelsea, Iker Casillas at Real Madrid and Paul Pogba at Manchester United, just to name a few.

“He even tried it with Marcus Rashford which I thought was outrageous and I said so on a number of occasions in my team of the week. So, Alli is in good company.

“Nevertheless, there is a solution to all of this for the former MK Dons player and that is to get out – leave.

“Alli is barely 25 and has enough time, and most definitely the ability, to recover from these difficult times at Spurs.

“However, what is essential is Alli must put a stop to this public onslaught and not allow himself to be used as Mourinho’s media punchbag.

“There is no doubt the former England international had lost his way but anyone who saw the player’s reaction when he was substituted at Stoke after 66 minutes could see how much it meant to him – so why couldn’t Mourinho?”

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While Alli may have struggled for form at times, the talent and quality is there, as shown by his impressive displays against the likes of Manchester United and Maccabi Haifa.

However, it looks as though Mourinho is losing patience with the £100,000-a-week playmaker and there’s an increasing risk that he won’t get many more chances at the club as things stand.

With Paris Saint-Germain reportedly interested in Alli, particularly if Mauricio Pochettino takes the reins, it really looks like a no-brainer decision at this point.