Dele Alli has revealed that he's happy to play anywhere for England, as the national squad prepare for their first game under Sam Allardyce, away to Slovakia on Sunday afternoon.
The quotes from Alli, in which he says he'd like to play anywhere for his country, come after leaked team news revealed that Allardyce is likely to start captain Wayne Rooney in the number 10 position he's taken up for Manchester United, under Jose Mourinho.
Allardyce was always going to start Rooney after confirming that he'd continue as captain earlier this week, and the fact that he's the one to take up the attacking midfield role doesn't come as a surprise, as the new England boss explained that he picked the squad earlier this week based on having two specialist players for each position.
Alli content with competition
This leaves the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder firmly as Rooney's understudy, hoping for minutes potentially to the left or deeper in midfield. Those are positions that he's happy to take up though, telling the London Evening Standard; "I'm young and would like to play anywhere, if the manager chooses Wayne to play in the number 10 role then that’s not my decision to make."
The 20-year-old went as far to say that "everyone likes a bit of competition", something Allardyce is certainly promoting by picking two players for each squad position.
Alli explained that whatever happens he's going to "keep working hard", and that if he's out of the starting 11 then he'll "take it and keep working".
Can he calm his temper?
A disappointing Euro 2016 for the youngster came after an impressive season which was spoilt by some ill discipline towards the end of the campaign.
"I made a few mistakes with my temper", admitted Alli, who went on to tell the paper that he realises he "can't do these things" and vowed to "keep them under control" as he progresses as a footballer.