New Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho was full of praise for Dele Alli after the versatile midfielder played a starring role in Saturday's 3-2 win over West Ham, giving the Portuguese bench boss a debut victory with the club.
Like many of his teammates, Alli has been off-kilter this season, struggling to make a consistent impact on the pitch.
There were no such troubles on Saturday, though, as the 23-year-old assisted the opening goal and helped create the second with a brilliant piece of skill while down on the ground. After the contest, Mourinho suggested that the MK Dons academy product can develop into one of the game's top players.
(Alli's) too good to not be one of the best players in the world and not playing with the national team," Mourinho said during his post-match press conference, per ESPN.
"I'm happy with him, I spent a few minutes with him in training and outside the pitch. And we were saying that the best Dele Alli has to be back.
"I think Dele was like the team, brilliant for 60-65 minutes and then he paid also the price of the tiredness so he went a little bit down," Mourinho added. "I think it was the old Dele Alli, the Dele Alli of a couple of years ago who impressed not just for England but all. He did everything I asked him to do."
Saturday's win, which saw Tottenham climb up to ninth in the table, was Spurs' first in the league since September.