Dele Alli has shared a screenshot from a WhatsApp conversation with after for a challenge on his former team-mate.

Dele, 28, was shown a straight red card ten minutes after coming on as a late substitute against Milan at San Siro. The match was his first professional game in two years, but the sending-off marred the former player's return.

The tackle from behind caught Loftus-Cheek on the back of his left leg, leading to the academy graduate rolling his ankle. Matteo Marchetti, the referee in charge, initially brandished a yellow card for the challenge but upgraded that to red after watching a slow-motion replay on the pitchside monitor after a video assistant referee check.

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Como head coach, , called it a "clear red card", describing it as a "grave mistake" and "the most negative thing about this evening" after their 2-1 defeat. He also suggested that the player "perhaps didn't deserve this opportunity" because he "has a lot to improve".

that he would have rather announced his return with a goal. In another post on the platform, he captioned a photo dump: "2 years! Not necessarily how I planned it, but we keep moving (face holding back tears emoji) (purple heart emoji)."

The third of four photos as part of that post was a screenshot from a WhatsApp chat with Loftus Cheek. Dele's first message in the conversation - sent just before 10:15pm - is in reply to something his former international team-mate had said a minute earlier: "Mad ting."

"Picture looks bad tho, though I just tried to clip your heel- (laughing crying face emoji) (see-no-evil monkey emoji)" Dele redacts the second half of that message, scribbling over it in black. The third message in the sequence said: "When the ref went to VAR, I didn't even know it was for me (weary face emoji) (laughing crying face emoji)."

Dele also redacts Loftus-Cheek's initial response - sent at 00:55am which directly replies to one of his messages is redacted. However, it is visible that the message concluded with two laughing crying face emojis.

"Bro, I had no clue," Loftus-Cheek said. "I stayed down (because) I was blowing."

Dele redacts his immediate response, but the second message he sent reads: "Don't piss me off (three crying laughing emojis)". He then asks 11 hours later, at 11:55am on Sunday, "I'm putting this in a photo dump," before asking, is "that calm?" and sending another (crying laughing emoji) a minute later.