Emotional Dele Alli teases imminent return to football as Tottenham cult hero receives warm reception from fans during north London derby homecoming

Dele was Spurs' guest of honour for the north London derby against Arsenal and, when on the pitch at half time, he teased an imminent return to the game he loves. Dele has not been employed by a club since his exit from Como in September 2025.

Per Matt Law of the Telegraph, he said: “I can’t wait to get back on the pitch playing, hopefully it won’t be too long now.”

An emotional Dele, who has endured a steep decline since leaving Tottenham in 2022, sent a hugely endearing message to the north London faithful. 

He said: "I hope you've missed me as much as I've missed you. A lot has happened in our journeys since we were last together but I'm back today and I hope you know that you'll always be my family."

Dele joined Tottenham in 2015 after seeing his obvious potential noted at boyhood club MK Dons. He settled quickly among the Premier League elite and became a two-time PFA Young Player of the Year.

He hit 67 goals for Spurs through 269 appearances, while earning 37 caps for England. Dele took on a new challenge when joining Everton in 2022, with struggles for form and fitness being endured since then.

Dele has struggled to find a permanent home since his exit from Como, where he made one appearance, and was sent off. In 2023, he bravely revealed to Gary Neville that he had suffered abuse as a child.

Dele revealed that throughout his career he had been dealing with the trauma of his upbringing. He said he began dealing drugs when he was eight years old and was exploited by gangs as police would never suspect and search a child.

"I was adopted by an amazing family, I couldn't have asked for better people to do what they'd done for me. If God created people, it was them," he said of how he got through those dark times.

"They were amazing, and they've helped me a lot, and that was another thing, you know – when I started living with them, it was hard for me to really open up to them, because I felt within myself, it was easy to get rid of me again.

"I tried to be the best kid I could be for them. I stayed with them from 12, and then started playing first-team, professionally, at 16. It all sort of took off from there."

Dele didn't have much to cheer at Tottenham on Sunday, as his old club suffered a damaging 4-1 defeat to Arsenal. His focus will now switch back to his search for a new club, as he bids to hear his name chanted by an adoring crowd once more. The 29-year-old has been linked with Championship high-flyers Wrexham and multiple clubs in La Liga.