Ex-England and Tottenham star Dele Alli remains without a club but did have a surprise offer to join Salford City after bumping into then-manager Karl Robinson by chance

Former Salford City boss Karl Robinson has revealed that he extended an invitation to bring Dele Alli to the club, with the former Tottenham star still looking for his next challenge.

Dele, a two-time PFA Young Player of the Year winner, has endured a stunning decline having come through the ranks at MK Dons and then shone for a Tottenham side that had challenged for the title under Mauricio Pochettino.

A loss of form and continued injuries has seen him leave north London and he's since headed to Everton, Besiktas and then Como, but he's now on the lookout for a club and was offered a return by Robinson when he was in charge of the League Two outfit.

He said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: “I would 100 per cent give him a chance. I saw him in the gym in June, and I told him to come to Salford. But he probably looked at me and went, ‘Gaffer, come on, I’m not doing that’.”

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Dele would never respond to the offer and the ex-Salford manager, who was sacked after losing the play-off final last season, concedes that his mindset will see him miss out on opportunities.

“The reason these players are these players is because they have a self-belief and a poorly-developed sense of fear. I guarantee if you sit down now, he would probably say he could turn around the fortunes of Man Utd. Because that’s how those real top players who produce their moments of magic think.”

Dele is a year without a club but Robinson maintained: “I don’t know why he is not playing football. This is a tremendous young man. He’s struggled through and rose above it and became the person that he is.”

The demise of the former Tottenham man has been stark and he was once cited as the player Jose Mourinho should sign at Manchester United by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Dele's latest stint was a false dawn as he left Como prematurely after signing an 18 month deal with the Italian side, who are managed by Cesc Fabregas. The 37-cap England international made just one appearance and lasted only 10 minutes as he was shown a red card for a dangerous challenge on Ruben Loftus-Cheek during a 2-1 defeat to AC Milan.