Son 'proud' of Dele Alli after acknowledging Tottenham team-mate has been through 'a tough time'

Tottenham star Son Heung-Min affirmed that he is pleased to see Dele Alli back in action after months frozen out of the first team. 

Alli had fallen out of Jose Mourinho's plans and was even close to leaving the club in the January transfer window. 

But the midfielder has now pushed himself back into contention, to the delight of his team-mate. 

What was said? 

"I am always happy to play with any players. It is happiness to go out to the pitch and play football," the South Korea international explained to Goal after Tottenham's 4-0 thrashing of Burnley on Sunday. 

"I've been with Dele for a long time, and recently he has had a tough time, but I'm proud of his performance.

"I get along with [Gareth] Bale and it is nice to have a good performance with him. Today every player tried to do their best and worked hard, therefore the players played happily."

Alli's road to recovery

Long considered almost an automatic name on the Tottenham team-sheet, Alli saw his stock fall considerably after Mauricio Pochettino was replaced by Mourinho. 

The playmaker has failed to make a single Premier League start in the 2020-21 season, with his sporadic appearances mostly limited to the Europa League and domestic cup competition. 

Pochettino remains a fan, though, and pushed hard to complete a loan move to Paris Saint-Germain in January which ultimately failed to go through. 

In recent weeks, it has appeared that Alli's luck may be changing. 

The England international put in a superlative performance in Thursday's Europa League win over Wolfsberger, contributing a goal and two assists as Spurs prevailed 4-0 over the Austrians. 

That form has put him in line to play a bigger part in Mourinho's plans, although he was limited to a 25-minute cameo off the bench against Burnley with his team already four goals to the good.

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