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To make it as a Premier League footballer is one thing. To star as a top player in one of the country’s best teams, earn comparisons to greats like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, and do it all by the age of 21 is quite another.

So to say that Dele Alli’s meteoric rise has to do with being in the right place at the right time would be a cruel understatement. But you do need luck along the way, too.

It’s easy to forget, because of his tender age, that Alli was a regular starter for his League One side MK Dons for two full seasons before his Premier League debut, becoming the League One Young Player of the Year the season before winning the Premier League version of the same award the very next year.

He’s lucky about that, though.

As a young player in the Premier League, game time is like gold dust. It doesn’t happen very often if you’re coming through the ranks underneath the stars of the first teams. Results are so important that youth isn’t relied upon, and members of the youth teams at the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City – although incredibly decorated at youth level – are loaned and forgotten about rather than developed for first team action.

Perhaps being bought rather than made by Spurs heightened the temptation for Mauricio Pochettino to give Alli first team action so soon. Rather than rotting in the reserves, he was given his chance to shine. And he took it.

Or perhaps he was simply lucky to be bought by a team with Pochettino as the manager. It’s one of the Argentine manager’s calling cards that he gives young players starting berths in the team, preferring his own, homegrown variety to those bought in the transfer market.

Either way, Alli’s skills were displayed early on in a Spurs team that was filled with prodigious talent, under the care of a manager who knew what he was doing. At any other club, though, you get the feeling that the battle for a first team place would have been harder for a 20-year-old attacking midfielder.

His luck is showing no signs of running out, either.

An England international, on course for yet another Young Player of the Year award, there’s always a chance that Alli is the subject of a big bid from a big club this summer. The biggest of clubs.

When Spurs started to turn on the flair earlier this season, they did so playing a back three formation which could soon become modern European football’s in vogue tactical craze.

Such a formation isn’t new, of course, and it would be too Premier League-centric to suggest that it will become a craze simply because Chelsea have taken English onlookers by storm using it. In fact, Conte has been using it for years. His Italy side, as well as Chris Coleman’s Wales has success using similar formations at the Euros, whilst it has been a tactical tweak that everyone from Louis van Gaal to Pep Guardiola have used on occasion over the last decade or so. Even the now-standard 4-3-3 can involve the deepest midfielder dropping between the centre backs as the full-backs push on.

And yet, given modern football’s fetish for counter-attacks (both creating and preventing them), the back three looks like it could provide a platform with enough defenders to prevent one, and enough pacey attack-minded players to get one going.

But it’s a formation in which Dele Alli looks incredibly suited. With an extra defender behind them, the attacking midfielders are freed from some of their defensive duties, whilst the presence of wing-backs – who are freed from some of their own back-tracking themselves – can make runs to pull defenders out of position and create space in the middle. And that’s where Alli comes to the fore.

It’s been a meteoric rise, from League One to the Premier League, even the Champions League and the English football team. Alli’s talent has seen him rise to the top, and he is touted as one of the players of his generation. And yet it’s hard to escape the feeling that Alli is perfectly positioned for greatness because his game fits so well with the position in which he finds himself.

Luck doesn’t quite do it justice. It’s his talent, coupled with a perfect storm of a situation that has Alli being talked about in the same breath as some of the best midfielders in Premier League history.

But the luckiest thing of all is that he’s only 21 today. In 20 years, maybe we’ll be comparing new young stars to Dele Alli.

Arsenal’s track record of selling key players does not make for pleasant reading. The building of their new stadium pulled the financial strings tight which forced frugality, but the loss of multiple stars over the last decade or so has cost the Gunners dearly and seen them lift no trophy other than the FA Cup. Arsene Wenger – to most people at least – has been a steadying influence and kept the club in a relatively competitive position despite a shortage of financial muscle.

The stadium is no longer an excuse, however, and Arsenal are at risk of slipping out of the Champions League. The club – aside from reaching the FA Cup final again – is the closest it has been to turmoil in two decades. Fan protests can be taken with a couple of grains of salt, though the desire of one of the world’s best players to leave the club cannot.

Alexis Sanchez has been far and away Arsenal’s best player this season. The second half of the campaign he has not been quite as dominant as the first half, but the Chilean has led the goal scoring charts for the club and made them tick. Murmurings that – with his Arsenal contract expiring in 2018 – Sanchez wants a move are recurring. Arsenal have left themselves in a problematic situation once again by letting a player’s contract run down to 12 months remaining, leaving Sanchez holding a powerful set of cards.

The Gunners have proudly stuck to the club wage structure for years. This wage structure kept them afloat through a costly new stadium move and has allowed them to function without the debt that looms over many other football clubs.

Reluctance to break this structure is well justified. It is not only on financial grounds, however. Offering a player a figure that changed this would see half the current squad ask for new contracts and any new signings suddenly realise they could push Arsenal into a realm they had previously refused to venture into. Squad harmony would potentially take a real hit if a player was offered a blockbuster wage packet.

Arsenal, though, have little choice at this juncture. The loss of another key first team player would be too deep a wound to simply plaster over. With a top four finish unlikely and Wenger’s future uncertain, attracting players to join the club this summer will be tough enough. Then add the loss of Alexis to that and Arsenal are going to be unable to compete with their Premier League peers. Footballers’ wages might be unimaginably high at the top level, but the recent inflation in player demands (largely due to the Premier League) means Arsenal must reshape their wage structure to compete.

If Arsenal refuse to compete financially, cannot offer Champions League football and have lost their best player they have little to zero chance of rivalling any of their top six companions in the market this summer. Losing Sanchez would be a sign Arsenal are on the wane. Whatever it takes, they must keep him at the club if they are to be a force next season, even if it means a swathe of new contracts for first team players.

How the Sanchez ‘saga’ is dealt with at the Emirates could be a barometer of the ambition in the upper echelons of the club.

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Manchester United have given Tottenham Hotspur a big boost in their hunt for the English Premier League title after a dominant 2-0 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford.

A big win for Mauricio Pochettino’s men against Bournemouth on Saturday meant they had cut the gap to the Blues to just 4 points ahead of kick-off in Manchester and Antonio Conte’s side couldn’t find the performance required to restore that to 7 points.

Goals from Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera early in each half gave Jose Mourinho a huge win against his former club, a win that means they are still within touching distance of a top four finish.

The pressure is now on Chelsea in a big way and they meet Spurs next week, although it’s not points up for grabs but a place in the FA Cup final. If Spurs win that then the Stamford Bridge side will have to dig deep to find the form required to get over the line as champions.

Is it turning into a season of dreams for Tottenham Hotspur?

Their fans are starting to believe and took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

Chelsea’s victory over Everton on Sunday wasn’t just significant for taking Antonio Conte’s side three points closer to the Premier League title this season – it was also the Blues’ first clean sheet since January 22nd.

Perhaps that’s why this is seen as such a big step towards a second league title in three years: it wasn’t just that Chelsea had successfully negotiated their toughest away test left on the fixture list, but they’d arguably turned in their most solid performance of the last three months.

Back in January, it was almost inconceivable that there’d be a title race at all. Now there is only four points separating the top two, and Tottenham are currently in the middle of a highly impressive nine-match winning run in the Premier League. Things have shifted. After the first game of that Spurs run – a 4-0 victory over Stoke in February – the gap was 10 points. That narrowing of the lead might be down to Tottenham’s brilliance as much as anything else, but Chelsea still needed to give up points along the way. They haven’t been as good in the second half of the season as the first.

Victory at the weekend may have extinguished much of the hope of an even closer race going into the final weeks of the season, but the reality is if there’s been a title race at all this season, it’s been down to Chelsea’s stuttering defence over the last few weeks.

The question is whether or not this is about form (Chelsea went on a run of 13 victories in a row earlier this season, and no one could expect them to keep that up for a whole season) or whether it is about something much more dangerous than that. Something that will worry Conte ahead of next season.

Given Chelsea’s abject defence of their crown last year, it wouldn’t be surprising if those around the club remembered the similarities between the second half of this season and the second half of the 2014/15 campaign when the Blues began to look a little rocky under Jose Mourinho, but used their experience and nous to get over the line quite comfortably in the end.

There are undoubted parallels: a good first half of the season was mirrored by a less impressive second half, and the problems spilled over into the next season, culminating in Mourinho’s dismissal as manager.

Ironically, the problems of last season have actually had a positive effect this time around: not only are the players seemingly galvanised by the experience, but the fact that European qualification wasn’t achieved has undoubtedly made this season just that little bit easier.

They may make next season easier, too.

That’s because Chelsea should be worried about the parallels. Whilst it’s true that Conte and Mourinho aren’t the same characters, and there were some very specific failings and fights nearly two years ago which led to the club’s temporary demise, the club will surely have learned not to rest on its laurels and not repeat the same mistakes.

One decision to make this summer is how best to replace John Terry.

That might seem like an odd suggestion given that the former England captain hasn’t featured regularly for Chelsea this season at all, left out of the side for most of the campaign as the back three of David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta and the on-pitch captain Gary Cahill have proved a consistent and solid block this season – or at least until January before the clean sheets became sparse. But his absence from the club next season could have a bigger impact than it might seem right now.

For one thing, we don’t know what sort of importance John Terry has in the dressing room. For each of Chelsea’s Premier League title victories, the club captain has been present. It has been widely noted that Chelsea’s ability to stay ahead of the competition so far this season has been partly down to their know-how and winning mentality, but that usually means the players on the pitch. And yet, part of that surely comes from having a figure like Terry present at the club, too. If not for his on-pitch leadership, then his leadership in the dressing room. Or even just as a figure of victory within the team – a figure the other players see every day and which reminds them of the club and its recent history. A figure who reminds them they are winners.

It isn’t uncommon, at times of triumph and celebration, to feel too positive. Chelsea could quite easily fall into that trap. Although they can very much enjoy winning the title – barring collapse – and possibly even a league and FA Cup double, losing Terry might not seem like a big blow to them. After all, they’ve done it pretty much without him.

They’d be foolish not to plan for his departure, but perhaps two trophies and a few more clean sheets between now and the end of the season will convince Chelsea that everything is perfect as it is.

That could be a terrible mistake.

It’s rather incredible to think Barcelona have spent the season with a central midfielder playing at right-back after letting Dani Alves leave for Juventus last summer.

The Brazilian has been nothing short of phenomenal for the Old Lady but particularly during the business end of the season, grabbing two goals in the first leg and scoring a stunner in the second during the Champions League semi-final with Monaco, and he produced yet another result-clinching performance last night in the Coppa Italia final.

Juventus marched further towards a potential treble with a 2-0 win over Lazio, Alves scoring the first goal of the evening with a close-range volley that was fired into the ground and bounced over Thomas Strakosha’s arms to crash into the inside netting.

But that was by no means the South American’s only contribution; he also finished up with the most successful dribbles, tackles and second most created chances of any player on the pitch, not to mention a 90% passing accuracy – a fantastic return considering Alves spent much of his time in the middle and final thirds, operating predominantly as a right winger.

According to Duncan Castles, Tottenham are lining up Alves as a potential replacement for Kyle Walker, as their new dynamic right-back who can provide width and attacking flair on the overlap. Based on his performance last night – not to mention the 34-year-old’s famous successes with Barcelona – he’d be a real coup for the north Londoners and perfect for that Walker-esque role.

Manchester United have had a whole host of brilliant centre-backs over the last 20 years or so, but few proved more popular than Serbian international Nemanja Vidic.

The 35-year-old spent eight years with Man United between 2006 and 2014, making 300 appearances in all competitions, in addition to landing five Premier League titles and one Champions League crown.

Vidic was invited to play in Michael Carrick’s testimonial at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon as part of Man United’s 2008 team, and the defender turned back the clock with a thumping header to level the scores at 1-1 in the first period.

The former Inter Milan centre-back was withdrawn at the interval of the 2-2 draw, but he made a big impact in the opening 45 minutes with a number of important clearances.

Man United boss Jose Mourinho is currently in the market for a new centre-back ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, and supporters of the Red Devils believe that Vidic could be the answer.

The Serbian has not played since leaving Inter last year, but he is only 35, and there might well be a season or two left in the centre-back’s legs.

One thing is for certain, Vidic will remain a cult hero at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future.

According to Marca, Arsenal will be offered the chance to sign Barcelona midfielder Rafinha this summer, providing that Hector Bellerin moves in the opposite direction.

What’s the story?

Bellerin only signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal earlier this year, but it is understood that the 22-year-old is desperate to return to Camp Nou.

The full-back, who is currently with Spain Under-21s at the Under-21 European Championships, came through the youth system at Barcelona before leaving for Arsenal in 2011.

Bellerin’s future has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks, and according to Marca, Barcelona are preparing to offer Arsenal the chance to sign Brazilian midfielder Rafinha as part of the deal.

Rafinha, who has also been linked with Liverpool, managed seven goals in 28 appearances in all competitions last season, but he missed the last few months of the campaign with a knee injury.

Would it be a good deal for Arsenal?

According to Marca, Barcelona are prepared to offer Rafinha and a cash sum for Bellerin this summer in a bid to convince Arsenal to part with the Spain international.

Bellerin actually struggled to get into the Arsenal team in the latter stages of last season when head coach Arsene Wenger swapped to a 3-5-2 formation, although the full-back is still highly-regarded at the Emirates Stadium.

Barcelona are a pull for any player, however, especially one that grew up at La Masia.

Losing Bellerin would be difficult for a number of Arsenal supporters to accept, but Rafinha’s arrival in the Premier League would certainly be a big boost.

It has been claimed that Rafinha, who is valued at £13m by transfermarkt.co.uk, “is not convinced” by talk of a move to Liverpool, although the Brazil international would be open to discussions with the Premier League outfit.

The pull of London is often seen as important for foreign players, however, and if Arsenal and Barcelona can pull off a player-plus-cash deal for Rafinha and Bellerin, both could move forward heading into the 2017-18 campaign.

Scotland face England this Saturday in one of the most iconic football fixtures in world football. With half the games in Group F of World Cup Qualifying complete, Gordon Strachan’s side sit perilously in fourth position, two points behind the play-off positions.

However, a win over the ‘Auld Enemy’, as that Tartan Army like to put it, would be a massive statement and put them right back into contention to potentially sneak into that play-off spot.

It won’t be easy of course. England, for all their major tournament faults, are often one of the most consistent sides in qualification groups and are unbeaten so far in this campaign. In a match and atmosphere that will resemble a big club derby match, they’ll be motivated too.

Key to Scotland’s chances of a result are a core group of Celtic players who have taken domestic football by storm over the last season. Not only are they all full of confidence and in incredible form, they also have experience of UEFA Champions League football, which will be most similar to high stakes match-up at Hampden this Saturday.

Here are the three Hoops stars we think have it in them to shock England…

Kieran Tierney

Kieran Tierney is arguably the finest young Scottish talent of them all and has really emerged into a consistent and mature over the last 12 months under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers.

With three caps for Scotland recently, he’s fast becoming a trusted member of Gordon Strachan’s squad too and is expected to take up a position on the right side of the Scotland defence against England, just weeks after suffering a broken jaw in the Scottish Cup Final.

Not his traditional spot, Scotland just so happen to be blessed with two elite left-backs and Tierney has shown more versatility than Andy Robertson to adapt to the right wing.

He was in blistering form against Slovenia, showing the guts, passion and skill to be an stand-out at international level.

England will be the toughest test of his international career but he has what it takes to raise his game. Perhaps a great indicator of that is his performance against Manchester City in last season’s UEFA Champions League. He was in outrageous form that night at Celtic Park, second only to Moussa Dembele, and they were England’s best club team at the time having beat everyone they’d faced up to that point.

You wouldn’t put it past him to provide the assist to a goal that would shock England.

Stuart Armstrong

In his debut against Slovenia in Scotland’s last World Cup qualifier, Gordon Strachan described Stuart Armstrong’s performance as “the best Scotland debut I have ever seen”.

It was his clever play that set up the winner that night for Chris Martin to give Scotland a fighting chance of getting something out of this qualification group.

He possesses pace, skill, passing technique but perhaps most importantly he has the desire to commit to runs into the final third beyond the last line of defence.

His runs into the box for Celtic last season were a trademark of his game and he was been rewarded for his ambition, scoring an incredible 17 goals from central midfield in all competitions.

Armstrong gives Scotland something different in the middle of the park but also has the discipline to try and stop England playing themselves.

If Gordon Strachan’s side are going to get anything from the game, he’ll likely have had a fantastic match and been central to it.

Leigh Griffiths

Leigh Griffiths is still searching for his first ever Scotland goal and while he may not start against England this weekend, with Gordon Strachan seemingly always preferring the likes of Chris Martin, he’ll no doubt play an important cameo of the bench.

That off the bench role is something he’s had to endure at Celtic for the majority of Brendan Rodgers’ reign but to be fair to the striker, he’s worked hard and got on with his game. Despite limited play time he still scored 18 goals for the Hoops in all competitions last season, making him Scotland’s biggest pure goal threat.

He was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet against Slovenia, missing a couple of chances including an audacious effort that rattled the post.

As any Celtic fan will tell you, he loves the big occasion and although he has failed to net for Scotland in prior internationals, it would be typical of him to do it on the biggest stage.

It would be fair to say that it took Henrikh Mkhitaryan time to settle at Manchester United last season, but the Armenian showed glimpses of his special talent in the second half of the campaign.

The 28-year-old proved key in Man United’s Europa League success, meanwhile, as he scored six times in 11 appearances, including against Ajax in the final of the European competition.

Just four goals and one assist in 24 Premier League appearances suggest that the attacker has some improving to do next season, but the signs are certainly positive entering the 2017-18 campaign.

Mkhitaryan’s magic feet and ability to make things happen have quickly seen him become a popular figure with the Man United supporters, and they were out in force on Twitter to respond to a post from the Armenian international this week.

The former Borussia Dortmund playmaker is currently enjoying the final moments of his time off, before returning to Man United later this week ahead of the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.

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Arsenal have confirmed that Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has joined Italian champions Juventus for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old joined Arsenal in 2006, and made 181 appearances for the London club before joining Roma on loan in 2015.

The stopper has spent each of the last two seasons with Roma, but will now turn out in the colours of Juventus after moving to the Serie A giants ahead of the 2017-18 campaign.

It does seem to be a strange move when considering that Petr Cech is approaching the final stages of his career with the Gunners, and many Arsenal supporters are bemused that the club have sold a goalkeeper that is seemingly approaching his best years.

Deemed not good enough to turn out for Arsenal, Juventus have obviously seen enough over the last couple of years to bring the Pole to Turin.

Szczesny’s Arsenal exit was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, and it would be fair to say that the majority of Arsenal fans were not pleased with the news.