Liverpool didn’t sign Alli as his ‘demands were too high’

Matt Stead

Former Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre has explained that the club turned down the chance to sign Dele Alli because his “demands” were too high for his achievements at the time.

Alli joined Tottenham from MK Dons in a deal worth just £5million in January 2015.

The midfielder has since become one of the country’s leading talents, scoring 30 goals and providing 22 assists in 91 games across all competitions.

Liverpool competed for Alli’s signature at the time of his departure from MK Dons, with then-manager Brendan Rodgers claiming that the youngster had told him he wanted to move to Anfield.

According to former chief executive Ayre, the deal collapsed due to Alli’s demands.

“There was interest in the player, but where it got to was that the demands at that time were not fitting to what he had achieved at that point,” Ayre told a lecture at Liverpool John Moores University.

“We didn’t feel the player matched that demand. It’s easy to sit and say ‘look what you could have bought’, but how many players could you apply the reverse of that to? That’s the truth.”