Sam Allardyce believes Liverpool's loss is Tottenham Hotspur's gain when it comes to Dele Alli.

Liverpool were in talks to sign Alli from MK Dons as then Reds boss Brendan Rodgers wanted to add the highly-rated young midfielder to his squad at Anfield.




Alli is claimed to have wanted to move to Liverpool, who thought they had him, only for a deal to fall apart, allowing Spurs to swoop in and pay £5m to take him to White Hart Lane.

Then MK Dons boss Karl Robinson alerted Liverpool to Alli and even drove the talent for talks with the Reds as he tried to smooth the path to an agreement.
 


And Allardyce, who is close friends with Robinson and whose Crystal Palace team must find a way to stop Alli when they host Tottenham on Wednesday, feels Liverpool missed out big time.

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Allardyce told a press conference: "I'm good friends with Karl Robinson and his words are that Dele Alli is 'the best he's ever seen'. Liverpool's loss, Spurs' gain.

"Developing players in this country has become one of the hardest jobs clubs face.

"[It’s] hard to find the Allis of this world, sadly."

And along with Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, Allardyce knows Palace must stop Spurs' attacking threats.

"Son, Kane and Alli have been in such good goalscoring form, we need to master that side of their game."

Alli was recently crowned the PFA Young Player of the Year, becoming only the fourth player to collect the award in successive seasons.

Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) and Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) are the other three players to manage the feat.