Dele Alli is one of a number of ex-Tottenham Hotspur players to have sent well-wishes to Mousa Dembele after the Belgian midfielder announced his retirement.
The former Spurs star is currently in the final year of his contract with Chinese outfit Guangzhou City and has announced that he will hang up his boots when his deal comes to an end.
In a statement published on the 34-year-old’s social media accounts, he said: “Hi everyone, first of all I would like to thank you all for all of the nice messages I have received.
“To clear up, I haven’t stopped yet. I still have a year on my contract left. But I can already share I will stop my career after this year is finished. Thank you.”
The decision to close off his career sees an extremely popular player from a Spurs perspective wave goodbye to the game, with Dembele having played a pivotal role in north London under Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs established themselves in the top four.
As a result, the 82-time Belgian international has been sent a number of messages from his former teammates, including particularly lofty praise from Dele Alli - who himself has only just departed the club for Everton.
Taking to Instagram, he wrote: “One of the best players I’ve ever seen and played with. Happy retirement brother.”
Alli has been joined by the likes of Toby Alderweireld and Victor Wanyama in also sending their messages to Dembele ahead of his retirement at the end of the year.
The former wrote: "The goat leaving the game.. Congrats on an amazing career my friend, it has been a pleasure to share the pitch with you @mousadembele. Enjoy your final year.”
Meanwhile, the Kenyan midfielder said: “You are retiring but a new phase of your life is beginning,Thank you for the years of dedication that gave us endless Entertainment.Enjoy your retirement bro.”
In his time as a Tottenham player, Dembele represented the club on 249 occasions before departing for China in 2019.
