Yaya Toure compares a Tottenham midfielder sold in January to Jude Bellingham.

Tottenham Hotspur coach Yaya Toure says Dele Alli was in a similar situation to Jude Bellingham not too long ago.

Toure joined Spurs as a youth coach in July, a few months after Antonio Conte sold Dele to Everton on the final day of the winter transfer window.

He has since moved from Goodison Park to Turkish outfit Besiktas, but it is easy to forget Dele was a regular starter in the England side which got to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.

Toure told the Athletic that the situation, when Dele emerged, was similar to where Bellingham is now and the Borussia Dortmund man needs to be managed carefully.

Legendary midfielder Toure said: “I can’t wait to watch the World Cup quarter-final between France and England on Saturday, because I think they have the two young players who are at the top of the tournament: Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.

“Bellingham has been the star of all of England’s matches for me. Sometimes he’s scoring, sometimes he’s passing, and the timing of his box-to-box runs is perfect. He’s in good shape and came into this tournament with the right confidence from Borussia Dortmund.

“You can tell he sees himself as a potential top player in the world and wants to show it at the World Cup. I hope the media are careful with him because we saw a similar situation a few years ago with Dele Alli, who struggled at times with being presented as a leader for the club and country.

“It’s important for everyone to be protective of Bellingham for his development because it’s clear he has a bright, bright future with England.”

Dele went to Euro 2016 as well as Russia 2018 with England and after that run to the last four, it seemed he would be a fixture for his country for the next ten years or so.

Few could have predicted what would happen in the meantime and that will act as a cautionary tale for Bellingham as he plots his way through his career.

But the former Birmingham man seems even more rubber-stamped and nailed on to be a superstar, even though we should be careful not to put too much pressure on him.