Dele Alli sent off 10 minutes into Como debut, first game in over 2 years

Como gave Dele Alli his Serie A debut in the trip to Milan, as he returned to football for the first time since February 2023, and was sent off just 10 minutes later.

The England international had been given permission to train with Como and coach Cesc Fabregas in December 2024.

He impressed enough to earn himself a contract, which runs to the end of the season with the option to extend until June 2026.

Fabregas put Alli in the matchday squad for a competitive match for the first time in 735 days during the trip to Roma.

Alli return to football is ruined by red card

However, this evening the coach called Alli from the bench and put him on as a substitute at the 81^st minute at San Siro against Milan.

It didn’t last very long, as he was booked for bundling into the back of Milan midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Even Milan’s Kyle Walker was telling the referee to not go through with it

Just nine minutes after making his first appearance in football after two years out, Como’s Dele Alli sees red pic.twitter.com/7wBx95igoF

— CBS Sports Golazo (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 15, 2025

Called to the VAR monitor to see how high it was, studs up on the back of his fellow Englishman’s ankle, the referee changed the card to red.

Even his former teammate Kyle Walker tried to talk the referee out of the inevitable decision, knowing how hard life has been for Alli in recent years.

The last time Alli had played an official football match was for Besiktas in a 0-0 draw with Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig on February 26, 2023.

In that period, he was on loan at Besiktas from Premier League side Everton.

The creative midfielder will turn 29 in April and received 37 senior caps for England in his career, scoring three goals.