DOWNLOAD British GQ: Hope Of English Football-Dele Alli Covers Latest issue (MP3)

Nigerian-English professional soccer player Dele Alli is the cover star of British GQ’s September 2017 issue. He was photographed by Christian Oita.

His rise has been remarkable. This time two years ago, the highest level he’d played at was League Two, for his local club, Milton Keynes Dons. Now, he’s not just an England international, but the England player on which all hope rests, arguably the most gifted British midfielder since Paul Gascoigne (Alex Ferguson ditched the “arguably” and said exactly that).

By the time Alli turned 21, he had scored or assisted more goals than, at the same age, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard- the three greatest goal-scoring midfielders of the Premier League era – combined. In the latest issue of GQ he talks about escaping onrushing defenders, a troubled upbringing and teenage gangs.

But you meet Alli and it makes perfect sense. He is, by some distance, the most self-possessed person I have ever interviewed. Not cocky or cocksure – arrogance, after all, often masks insecurity. And certainly not impolite – after the GQ shoot, he makes a point of shaking everyone by the hand. But just supremely at ease. As sure of himself in person as he is on the pitch. Dele Alli, in the way, so few of us ever are, is the perfect fit for himself.

In June, the CIES Football Observatory – which performs a detailed study every six months of players’ values – ranked Alli as the second most valuable footballer in the world, ahead of both Lionel Messi(£134 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo (£99m).

Alli looks stunning in a Dior Homme suit, and sportswear brands like Brunello Cucinelli. Stylist Elgar Johnson also incorporates a mix of labels such as Paul Smith and Berluti.

On how he learnt football: “I learnt football playing on the streets. That was always something I enjoyed doing.” Mostly, he says, they tried to nutmeg each other. Alli didn’t set foot on a full-size pitch until he was ten.