Just like Jude! Dele Alli compared to Bellingham at his best as ex-team-mate reveals desire to see struggling Everton star recapture form which made him 'first name on the England team-sheet'

The former MK Dons and Tottenham midfielder has endured a tough time on and off the pitch of late, with long-running injury issues proving difficult to shake off. Those setbacks have prevented the 27-year-old from making the desired impact at Everton.

Dele will become a free agent in the summer, meaning that another new challenge may be sought, but former MK Dons team-mate Smith believes a man good enough to earn 37 caps for his country can come good again in the right surroundings – with there no questioning his Bellingham-esque ability.

Smith, speaking to BritishGambler.co.uk, has said: “You hope that any player can get back when they have had those kinds of struggles. When we were at MK Dons, we were all aware of his background and situation – not the mental health – but the understanding of dynamic with his parents that Karl Robinson and myself were always aware of. He lived with a great family at MK Dons who looked after him so well. It’s always difficult when someone gets to a certain age and he left to go to Tottenham and you can’t stay under the guidance of someone so long when you become an adult – we speak about it at the school, whether that’s a little bit younger here when they can start to drive and they have their own freedom, and they start to make their own choices on do they want to go to college and play or do they want to be a professional. At MK we were such a small-knit community that we could look after him as much as possible as everything was structured, and we knew everything that was going on. As soon as he went to Tottenham he moved in on his own and he became an adult, and it becomes your own choices and your own decisions.

“I think everyone involved in football always hates to see anyone struggling from a mental health aspect, when they’re not enjoying the game or want to give up on the game that he’s naturally so good at. Everybody will have the best wishes for him, and we all want to see him back playing and back to where he was previously when he was probably a regular and a first name on the team-sheet for England. You look at Jude Bellingham now, and it was very similar to what Dele was capable of, so everyone has nothing but the best wishes for Dele going forward.”

While Bellingham is now thriving at Real Madrid, while also becoming a talismanic presence for England, Dele has not made a competitive appearance of any kind since February 26, 2023 - during a forgettable loan spell at Besiktas. He is sidelined again at present, with it possible that he will sever ties with Everton having taken in just 13 outings for the Premier League outfit.