'You saved my life' - Dele Alli posts emotional message after being booed by Besiktas fans

Dele Alli has posted for the first time since being booed by his own supporters.

The former Spurs midfielder, who joined Super Lig outfit Besiktas on a season-long loan in the summer, was replaced just 28 minutes into their Turkish Cup clash against third tier Sanliurfaspor on Wednesday.

After going 2-0 down early on, manager Senol Gunes took action by replacing Alli with Gedson Fernandes. The 26-year-old was then booed off by a section of supporters inside the Vodafone Park stadium as he ran towards the touchline.

Besiktas went on to win the game 4-2 thanks to goals from Cenk Tosun [2], Georges-Kevin N'Koudou and Wout Weghorst, who is currently on loan from Burnley.

Alli, meanwhile, has received a huge amount of support from fans after his recent setback. He initially impressed for the Turkish outfit, scoring on his second appearance for the club – a league clash against Ankaragucu.

But he's struggled to recapture any form of old. In fact, Besiktas manager Gunes recently claimed the player was performing "below expectations" in terms of efficiency.

That being said, Alli isn't ready to give up. In a post on his Instagram page on Friday morning, the former England international penned a defiant message.

He wrote: "You saved my life. That's why I will always love you."

Earlier this month, Besiktas' sporting director Ceyhun Kazanci said Alli is working hard to improve.

"No one can answer whether Dele Alli can do it right now," Kazanci told TRT Spor. "He is working very hard. He is a player who reached €100m [in value] three years ago. He had a fall."

And as mentioned earlier, plenty of supporters are getting behind Alli, who was, at one stage, touted for great things in the Premier League after winning back-to-back PFA Young Player of the Year awards.

One fan said: I hope things can change for Dele Alli in Turkey," while another commented: "This is actually sad."

A third wrote: "Hear me out yeah. I think Dele Alli should go back to Championship. Smash it out and find his form. Say they get promoted, build it up with that team and get back to his best that way. Thoughts?"

During his time at Spurs, former boss Jose Mourinho warned Alli about 'demanding more from himself' during a chat in his office.

"I am 56 now and yesterday I was 20. Time flies. One day I think you will regret it if you don't reach what you can reach," Mourinho said.

"I am not expecting you to be the man of the match every game. I am not expecting you to score goals every game. I want just to tell you that you will regret it.

"You should demand more from yourself. It should not be me demanding more from you. Nobody else. You. You should demand more from yourself."

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