Five million pounds. Sounds a lot, right? Of course it is. In these times of austerity, only oil-rich oligarchs, monarchs and those with a penchant for hiding their wealth in Panama would dare to denigrate a sum of £5 million (Dh26.5m).
But in terms of transfer fees in football, and more specifically those spent by clubs in the Premier League, it’s small change.
That is the initial sum Tottenham Hotspur paid Milton Keynes Dons for the prodigious Dele Alli in February, 2015, who last night capped a remarkable debut season in the Premier League when he was named PFA Young Player of the Year.
See more on Tottenham Hotspur:
• Gallery: Harry Kane and Dele Alli at the double as Tottenham turn on the style at Stoke
• The National debate: Can Tottenham catch Leicester City to win the Premier League title?
• Diego Forlan: Pochettino fits at Spurs, but capable of rising to a Man United or Real Madrid challenge
• Greg Lea: Dele Alli emblematic of a Tottenham Hotspur team who have often been league's best example
If Leicester City’s march to a first top-flight English title is the fairy-tale story of the season, the parable of Alli’s rise to one of the best players in the division is every bit as epic.
Alli, who celebrated his 20th birthday this month, personifies the youthful energy and exuberance that has been a hallmark of the Spurs team this season under the guidance of the astute Argentine Mauricio Pochettino. He harries and harasses opponents so high up the field you could be forgiven for thinking he was wearing the claret and blue of Barcelona.
His versatility has seen him operate in both the wide and central midfield roles as well as playing off the main striker Harry Kane.
He is wise beyond his years, too. A feature of Spurs’ incredible season, one that sees them still mathematically in the title chase but unlikely to overhaul Leicester City, is their ability to score goals in the final 10 minutes against tiring defences. Alli targets those players most exposed by his pace to devastating effect.
He has an eye for goal, too. His first 32 games in the Premier League have brought a handsome return of 10 goals and as many assists.
To put that into context, since the latest injury that sidelined Jack Wilshere, English football’s last great lauded mercurial hope, from the back end of last season to his first start this season in Arsenal’s draw against Sunderland on Sunday, Alli had in that time made his Premier League debut, his England debut and scored more league goals than his vaunted rival across North London.
The fact he was voted by his peers as better than his Tottenham teammate, scorer of 24 league goals before Monday night’s game against West Bromwich Albion, Kane, Philippe Coutinho, the Brazil international and heartbeat of a resurgent Liverpool team, as well Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland and Everton duo Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley only serves to reinforce the notion that Spurs possess one of the league’s most polished diamonds. Alli was also named in the team of the season alongside Spurs teammates Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose and Kane.
Alli’s rise has been so meteoric that England manager Roy Hodgson faces being pelted with eggs unless he is an automatic selection for the team at Euro 2016 this summer in France.
In eight short months, Alli has proved he belongs on that stage: the image of him dispossessing France’s Paul Pogba, by some distance Europe’s best midfielder, before scoring an unstoppable firecracker from 30 yards on his England debut in a friendly last November, is still vivid in the memory.
Take a bow, son. And credit to Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, notorious for extracting exorbitant fees for his own players while trying to drive down the price on those he wishes to acquire. Never has £5m been better spent.
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