West Ham have a big Dele Alli opportunity that could ‘kick football back in the teeth’
Dele Alli is being backed to revive his stalled career at West Ham United.
The 30-year-old former Tottenham and England star has been without a club since September 2025 when he was released by Como, where he'd made just one first-team appearance.
Dele's first and last game for the Serie A club lasted just nine minutes when he was sent off moments after appearing from the bench late in the game.
He's now being backed to make his next appearance back in England - and back in London - with Nuno Espirito Santo's West Ham.
Nuno's men got their season off to a good start on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup.
Joel Veltman has been West Ham's only new signing since they were relegated from the Premier League at the end of last term, and there's chatter that Dele could be joining that list.
Why Dele Alli would sign for West Ham
After almost a year of being with a club, Dele has a lot to prove to clubs that it's worth pushing the boat out and signing him.
He's a big name, he attracts attention and had a very good career up until it all started to fall apart during the back-end of his time at Spurs.
That means that despite hardly played in the last few years, it'll be a costly move.
But the reasons for Dele to join a club like West Ham have been made clear by former Millwall and Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino.
"I think if he can get excited by something, he can go, 'do you know what, I'm going to give my heart and soul, and I'm going to kick football back in the teeth here and prove to people how good I am'," Cascarino told talkSPORT on Sunday.
"And that could be the sort of signing that West Ham could make, only he's got to do a lot of proving."
Cascarino added: "Imagine getting that gift of a big opportunity; I say that because that happened to me.
"I was given the gift of Marseille when I was out of contract, and that was the biggest lift I ever had in my career.
"For Dele Alli, it could be the West Ham link and go, 'Do you know what, he's going to give his absolute all'."
But would West Ham be seriously interested in signing Alli, and what role would he play for them?
Will West Ham sign Dele Alli?
This is the all-important question because on the face of it, Dele needs West Ham more than West Ham need him.
The former England attacking midfielder has played nine minutes of professional, competitive football in the last three seasons.
Why would West Ham want someone with that record?
There's no doubt that Dele has kept himself as fit as possible during his time without a club but he's in his 30s now and he won't be the dynamic, all-action attacker that he used to be at Tottenham.
That means he might have to play a more reserved, central role in the midfield - but West Ham do need extra depth and quality in that area of the pitch.