Credit: Instagram – @dele

By Lewis Walker

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli has signed a new deal at the club, securing his services until 2024.

The England International, who signed for the club in 2015 from Football League 2 side MK Dons, has pledged his future to the club for the next six years.

Alli, 22, has received a huge pay rise in signing the deal and joins a number of his teammates in agreeing new contracts in recent months.

This comes as welcomed news for manager Mauricio Pochettino after his side’s disappointing 0-1 defeat to Manchester City at Wembley in the Premier League last night.

A sixth minute goal from Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez was enough for City to secure all three points in London which moved them back to the top of the Premier league.

The defeat now leaves Mauricio Pochettino’s side five points off the top sitting in fifth place after ten rounds of fixtures.

The news now means players Harry Kane, Davison Sanchez, Harry Winks, Eric Lamela and Hueng-min Son have all signed new deals in recent months with Spurs seemingly wanting to build a squad for seasons for come.

The midfielder expressed his happiness in penning the new deal on his Instagram page earlier today:” Delighted to have signed a new contract until 2024. Would like to say a big thank you to everyone at the club – chairman, manager, all my teammates and fans for their constant support. I’ve loved my time at @spursofficial so far and I’m very excited to see what the future holds!? #COYS”.

The England international has been struggling with a hamstring injury over recent weeks although he made his return as a second-half substitute in the defeat to City last night, a result that has hampered a positive mood at the club after they had made their best ever start to a Premier League season.

Manager Pochettino has acknowledged the gap between the two sides, but tying down  players of Alli’s quality will be a stepping stone in an attempt to bridge the gap in quality between his side, and the current Premier League champions.

Speaking to the Evening Standard newspaper he highlighted the point:“You cannot compare ourselves with Manchester City, he continued. We are at different levels. We are still not achieving the level of Manchester City. They won the Premier League last season.

“It’s a team that is focused on trying to win titles. We are focused on different things, not only to win games but still the gap is not big but we need to respect the gap and that is still not achieving the level of Manchester City”.

Speaking to fans it is clear to see the importance that Dele Alli brings to the Spurs team, and they feel that it vitally important to keep him at the club in order to challenge the top teams in the future.

Dave Paris of Tottenham Hotspur OneFanPage and season ticket holder highlights the point:” Dele Alli signing a new contract for Spurs is yet again one in the eye for the footballing world who seem obsessed with selling our top players and manager to Real Madrid. Anyone who says they wouldn’t have Dele Alli in their team/squad is talking absolute rubbish, an incredible player and talent”.

This comes after Mauricio Pochettino who has been linked to the vacant managers job at Real Madrid after their former manager Julen Lopetegui was sacked yesterday. The Spurs manager would join the likes of Gareth Bale and Luka Modric in making the switch from London to Madrid in the past ten years if he was to agree to the move.

The point made by Paris signals that the attention should be focused on Alli developing his career further at Spurs rather than the Spanish giants, whilst the media seem to think the trend of transfer activity over recent years between the two clubs will seem to continue.

Another fan of the club, Jack Noble backs up the importance of keeping the top players at the club in order to be successful in the future:” He’s still a young player with potential to be world class, when he’s in form he’s one of the best playmakers in the league and can score goals”.

Asking whether the calibre of player Spurs have at the disposal at the moment are good enough to challenge for titles he stated:” Kane and Alli yes but if we are wanting to challenge for titles Lamela and Winks probably aren’t good enough. More money needs to be spent to bring in top class players and compete wit the likes of Man City, Liverpool or Chelsea”.

Alli has contributed 38 goals and 26 assists during his time with Tottenham in the Premier League, it’s clear to see why fans want him to stay and signing a new deal can only be a positive for the club looking to the future.

A fan commenting the BBC Sport article seemed delighted with the news.