Everton make Dele Alli decision for pre-season trip after accepting offer amid Tottenham Hotspur agreement
The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder is working back to full fitness.
Everton have set off for their pre-season trip to Ireland.
The Blues will train in the Emerald Isle before playing a friendly against captain Seamus Coleman’s former club Sligo Rovers on Friday (16.00 BST).
And among the party that has left Liverpool John Lennon Airport today is Dele Alli. The midfielder has not played a game for Everton since August 2022 and is currently out of contract. But the midfielder has been invited back to Goodison Park to work towards full fitness - which he has accepted.
Sean Dyche is set to run the rule over the former England international with a look to a potential new deal. The Daily Mail reports that Everton will not have to pay Tottenham Hotspur a fee should Dele put pen to paper on a fresh Goodison Park deal. It is suggested that Spurs were due for a significant windfall.
Dele - once regarded as one of the most exciting midfielders in Europe - joined Everton from Tottenham in January 2022. He has made a total of 13 appearances for the club and was loaned to Besiktas for the 2022-23 season. However, his spell was cut short as he required hip surgery.
Last summer, the 28-year-old attended a rehabilitation clinic in America for an addiction to sleeping pills before revealing he was abused and forced to sell drugs as a child. He did not make an appearance for Everton last season as he was forced to have a groin operation after the new year.
Appearing on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football in April that he has aspirations of forcing his way back into England’s squad for the 2026 World Cup. He said: “I know my level as a player and what I can get to. I know how good I can be when my head is in the right place and I'm feeling good. Obviously, I'm disappointed with the injury right now but I'm excited to get playing. It's hard for me to even watch football. It's been tough for me, I'd say, this past eight months has been hard to watch.
“You know you can set reminders on your phone, I have a reminder at 11 o'clock every day that says, ‘World Cup 2026’. That's my aim for now. I think that people will be like, ‘he hasn't played in a year’ but I don't care, I know my level. The only target I have is the World Cup right now. Obviously I'm injured and contracted to Everton and so my mind is just about taking it day by day and making sure my injury is healed and that I'm in the best possible condition after the summer. It's annoying because I'll be just fully training as the season ends so it means that I won't have to rush it.”
Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have made the trip to Ireland amid exit links to Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively. Meanwhile, Neal Maupay and Mason Holgate have travelled after respective loan spells at Brentford and Sheffield United.