Dele Alli to the League of Ireland? How a troll post sparked a viral transfer rumour

Tom Weber

• 21 Jan 2026 09:01 GMT
• 5 min read

Feature

Former England midfielder Dele Alli has become the subject of a viral trend on Irish social media after a troll post on X linked him with League of Ireland outfit Bohemians.

The 29-year-old has been without a club since leaving Como last summer. Alli had joined the Serie A side in late 2024 after not playing in almost two years due to injury and personal issues, but his spell in Italy did little to help his flagging reputation.

He needed several months to get back to full fitness, and when he finally made his debut against AC Milan in March 2025, he was sent off within minutes of coming on as a substitute. That was his only appearance for Como.

Almost five months on from the end of his Italian sojourn, the former Tottenham superstar remains a free agent, and his overambitious goal of making England's 2026 World Cup squad has never looked more out of reach.

Rumours have now surfaced that League of Ireland side Bohemians are interested in signing Alli ahead of the start of the new season on 6 February. Except, they aren't.

Alli in bizarre transfer hoax

It all began on 19 January when X user The General, a Bohs fan, jokingly posted an old picture of Alli leaving a nightclub with the caption: "Former England and Spurs ace Dele Alli pictured leaving Downey’s Cabra on Saturday night. Alli is in Dublin ahead of a reported move to local club, Bohemian FC."

This simple sh*tpost eventually started doing the rounds on football Twitter and tricked some news aggregators into sharing it, thinking it was a credible piece of transfer information. No serious source actually linked Alli with a move to Bohs, but that quickly became secondary.

Within a few hours, the post had hit mainstream Irish social media, and the story went properly viral when the official Dublin Airport account shared a photoshopped picture of Alli leaving arrivals with a shopping bag from the airport's duty-free store.

Since then, more Dublin establishments have got in on the act. The Grafton Barber posted an AI-generated picture of the 29-year-old in front of their locale with the caption, "First trim in Dublin."

Even Bohs' front-of-shirt-sponsor Des Kelly joined the party with some AI slop of Alli holding up the club's 2023 Palestine away shirt. Unfortunately, they spelt his name incorrectly in the Tweet...

Of course, Dele Alli isn't actually joining Bohs - or at least not as things stand. What made this fake rumour somewhat believable, though, is the fact that the League of Ireland side actually did pull off quite a significant transfer last year.

Bohs signed former Premier League striker Lys Mousset in 2025 in a move that caused quite a bit of astonishment in League of Ireland circles. Like Alli, the Frenchman has struggled to live up to his potential in recent years, but the acquisition was seen as a coup.

He joined Bohs after half a year away from the game. He was released by German side VfL Bochum in 2024 without ever having made a single appearance, but his trial in Dublin in early 2025 was successful and earned him a contract.

However, his stint at Bohs proved short-lived. His contract was terminated by mutual consent after five months, during which he made nine appearances and scored one goal. He has not had a new club since.

Having been burned by a big name once, Bohs will surely steer clear of trying to sign Alli, tempting as it may be for a club that is always in the headlines.

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