Woof!

Second season syndrome? Forget it. In the 12 months since we last spoke, Dele Alli has gone from England’s hottest prospect to the most talked about young player in the world. The only thing that can stop him now – someone chewing up all his football boots

- James Maw

There’s excitement in the air as FourFourTwo awaits the arrival of this month’s cover star. Will he be in a good mood today? Will he take direction from our photographer? Is he as fun-loving and carefree as we’ve been told? As soon as the star of the show bounds into the north London studio, each question is answered with a resounding ‘yes’. And he didn’t do his business in the corner of the room, either.

“Hugo is well-trained,” says Dele, who, you will have noticed, also happens to feature on our cover, alongside his family’s beloved pooch. “Well, if they are training him to chew all my shoes, anyway.”

Hugo is indeed immaculately behaved, despite a reputation for gallivanting off to chase squirrels around the leafier corners of Buckinghamshire. He is also well-turned-out, having spent the previous afternoon at the poodle salon and been bought a special primping brush to ensure he looks his best for his first-ever photo shoot. This is his day, after all. “He was stealing my limelight,” Dele says with a laugh, and just the tiniest hint of jealousy, once the interspecies photo call is over. “He’s the family dog. He lives back in Milton Keynes, but comes to visit me now and then. Every time he leaves, I notice my trainers are chewed up!”

Of course, it isn’t just the 18-month-old King Charles Spaniel/Shih-Tzu cross – not named after Tottenham captain Lloris, since you ask – who benefits from being well-trained. Dele is thriving under the tutelage of his manager at White Hart Lane, the demanding Mauricio Pochettino.