Celtic '˜considered signing Dele Alli' as a youngster

Falkirk manager Peter Houston has revealed that Celtic were interested in Dele Alli when the Tottenham Hotspur superstar was a youngster at MK Dons.

Dele Alli celebrates scoring against Manchester United at White Hart Lane. Picture: Getty

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He claimed Celtic scouts even watched the midfielder on a couple of occasions but no concrete offer was made.

Houston used to work for the Parkhead side as a scout between his leaving Dundee United and taking over the manager’s job at Falkirk eight months later.

While at Parkhead, he was privy to information regarding Celtic targets. This included a list drawn up by head of football development John Park, which featured a 17-year-old Alli.

He told BBC’s Sportsound programme: “I used to work for a short spell at Celtic, and John Park had a list of players and Dele Alli was on that list.

“Celtic had watched him a couple of times as a youngster just after he’d managed to break through. I bet they wish they’d signed him.”

Alli would eventually go to Tottenham in the 2015 summer window for a fee of around £5million.