‘We could’ve’: David Pleat says Tottenham were once offered £85m for midfielder they let go for free

Tottenham Hotspur have missed some big opportunities in the transfer market over the years.

Spurs failed to sign the likes of Jack Grealish and Luis Diaz in recent times, but perhaps one of their biggest missed opportunities was regarding a player sale.

Indeed, while Tottenham are often good at selling players while their stock is high – receiving a world record fee for Gareth Bale and huge money for Harry Kane, they did miss a big chance to cash-in on Dele Alli at one point.

Alli was one of the hottest properties in world football during his time at Tottenham, and according to David Pleat, speaking on The Spurs Show, Tottenham could’ve got £85m for Alli at one point.

Tottenham could’ve got £85m for Dele Alli

Pleat spoke about how much value Spurs had in their squad at one point.

The Tottenham legend noted that Dele Alli was a very valuable player, claiming that the north London club could’ve received £85m for the midfielder at one point.

Tottenham actually valued Alli at over £100m at the time.

“There are some wonderful things Daniel (Levy) has done, to get the stadium running, to get the banks to help with the money. When that stadium was being built we had, I remember it clearly, we had England players, Walker, Kane, Dier, Trippier, there was another, Dele Alli, Dele was £85m at one time we could’ve got, we had good collateral on the field,” Pleat said.

How much did Tottenham get for Dele Alli?

Alli would eventually leave Tottenham in 2022, as he joined fellow Premier League club Everton.

However, instead of receiving £85m, Tottenham let Alli go on an initial free transfer which could’ve risen to £40m if the England international met certain milestones.

Unfortunately, Alli played just 13 league games for Everton, scoring zero goals in that time, and that meant that Spurs didn’t receive anything in return for the midfielder.

If Alli had been sold for £85m, he would’ve been one of Tottenham’s record sales.

Of course, Spurs wouldn’t have wanted to lose Alli at that point as he was one of the best players in the Premier League, and it looked like he would only improve.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way for Alli, and he’s currently a free agent after leaving Everton.