Crossword Genius

H. Kane's Spurs teammate gives up his soul to be an artist (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dali

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'artist' is the definition.
(Salvador Dali)

'h kane's spurs teammate gives up his soul to be an' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'soul' could be 'da' (D.A. is an example) and 'da' is found within the answer.
'an' could be 'i' (Roman numeral for one) and 'i' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'l' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dali that I've seen before include "Surrealist Spanish painter, d. 1989" , "Controversial painter" , "Salvador --, twentieth century Spanish surrealist painter" , "Salvador . . . . was great Spanish surrealist painter" , "Tree" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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