icon Graham Roberts remains a big fan of Dele Alli and hopes the midfielder can turn his career around, after once recommending the former international to Rangers. Alli, 28, now plies his trade for side Como under head coach Cesc Fabregas.

After disappointing spells at and Besiktas, Alli headed to Lake Como and recently made his first appearance in football for two years. pleaded for leniency but Alli was after just 10 minutes.

He has now returned from suspension for Como's derby with Monza.

Alli may well have ended up in Glasgow however, playing for Rangers, if Roberts had gotten his way. The 1984 UEFA Cup and back-to-back winner with has revealed that he recommended that the Scottish giants take a punt on Alli, before handing some advice to Fabregas to get the best out of him.

"I liked him when he joined (Tottenham), I thought he was brilliant when he played for us," Roberts said of Alli to Express Sport, via Mr Vegas Online Casino. "I remember him scoring two goals against Chelsea, two brilliant goals when we won 3-1.

"I have always liked him, I don't know what went wrong. I tried to recommend him to Rangers a few years ago and said: 'If you get hold of him and you help him, there is a player there'."

Fabregas and Como were willing to take Alli on and help rebuild his career, with Roberts informing the former and playmaker that a softer approach is needed to aid his development.

"There is a player there but he needs someone to put an arm around him to really get him back to what he was as a kid," Roberts added. "He is barely at his peak yet, it's frightening.

"But it is a shame he got sent off, I don't think it was a sending off. Kyle Walker tried to help him, tried to change the referee's mind.

"Me personally, I hope he does really, really well because I think there is a bit of talent there somewhere."

Fabregas may well disagree, however, after his red card against AC Milan.

"Dele Alli is a player who can score goals, he perhaps didn't deserve this opportunity because he has only been working with us for two weeks and has a lot to improve," Fabregas told DAZN.

"It is a grave mistake, one that we should not see from a player of his experience. It was a clear red card, there's nothing to be said about that, he left the team down to ten men during a crucial moment when we were pushing for 2-2."