If Harry Redknapp gets the England manager’s job (he won’t) then Dele Alli will be assured of his place.
The former Tottenham Hotspur manager rates the player so highly he thinks he will be better than Paul Pogba, who has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United for €120m.
Redknapp claims 20-year-old Alli would be a better signing in the long-term than 23-year-old Pogba.
“He’s a great player, there’s no doubt about that, but I wouldn’t swap him for Dele Alli,” Redknapp told Betsafe.
“If you asked me, Dele Alli or Pogba who do you want? I’m taking Dele Alli in the long term.”
Redknapp, does appear to have some issue with the mooted transfer fee, especially given the fact that Pogba was allowed to leave Old Trafford for nothing as a youngster.
“If I was the owners of Manchester United, I’d be very aggrieved that we actually let him go on a free transfer and we’ve now got to pay £100m to get him back,” he said.
“I don’t think I’d like that, I think my pride would stop me from paying £100m for a player when we gave him away.”
Regardless of whether or not Redknapp has a point, his claims are still a lot less ludicrous than those of Alan Pardew.
The Crystal Palace manager has claimed “four or five” England players would get into France’s starting XI.
That’s the same England team that went out in the last 16 of Euro 2016, and the same France team preparing to play the final of the tournament.