Dele Alli could soon be back in a training environment after Barnet manager Dean Brennan revealed he'd be welcome to join first-team sessions at the League Two club. The offer follows news that the former England midfielder has been renting the club's facilities at The Hive to train on his own.
Alli, 30, has been without a club for more than a year since leaving Cesc Fabregas' Serie A side Como after making just a single appearance. He recently posted footage of himself training alone at Barnet's ground, and on Thursday Brennan confirmed that Alli had been using the site as a paying customer.
"He's a serious footballer and he's going through a real tough time," Brennan told talkSPORT, via The Mirror. "There's obviously some kind of issue why people haven't taken him on. If I do a Harry Redknapp and pull him back in, like Di Canio, no issue whatsoever. Everyone deserves a second chance in life."
Brennan drew the comparison to Di Canio, who signed for West Ham in 1999 having not played since an 11-game ban for pushing a referee. The Barnet boss made clear his squad already includes players training without contracts, and Alli would be free to join them.
"At our football club we have lots of lads that train with us that are out of contract and if Dele wants to come train with us the doors are open," Brennan said. "He can use us to get fit and train with the group."
The Business Reality at Barnet's Level
Brennan was also candid about why the club rents out its facilities in the first place, pointing out the financial gap between League Two and the levels above.
"Our facilities are available to rent. We don't live in Disneyland down at our level so our lads have to pay their bills, pay their mortgage and we don't get 10,000, 20,000 fans a game," he said. "There's only a couple of thousand we get. So renting our facilities out was part of the business process at our place and it looks like Dele's done just that."
A Difficult Period On and Off the Pitch
Alli hasn't played a competitive match since March 2025, when he was sent off after coming on as a substitute in his only appearance for Como. Since leaving Tottenham Hotspur in 2022, he has also had spells at Everton and Besiktas without finding sustained form.
In 2023, Alli gave an emotional interview to Gary Neville on 'The Overlap', revealing he was sexually abused as a child and describing the support Everton gave him during his battle with sleeping tablet addiction.
Should Alli take up Brennan's offer, he'd be walking into a dressing room in good spirits. Barnet currently sit top of League Two and remain unbeaten after seven league games, in what is their second season back in the EFL following seven years in the National League. The Bees are next in action away at Crawley on Saturday.
