Sean Dyche has said that Everton are waiting for Dele Alli to get back to full fitness before they open talks with Tottenham over potentially renegotiating a deal for the midfielder.
Liverpool Echo state that the Toffees, who signed Dele on a free transfer from Everton in January of 2021, would have to pay £10m to the North London club if the midfielder plays seven more matches for them.
It is explained that this would prove prohibitive for the Merseyside club, given the various financial constraints that they are operating with.
Dele has been out of action since suffering a muscle partial avulsion back in March.
Dyche revealed that the midfielder was almost fully fit before the start of the season but he then suffered a setback during the club’s pre-season training camp in France, ‘popping’ an internal stitch when he struck a ball.
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The 52-year-old is quoted in the Liverpool Echo as saying: “It went shoot, that was it… These stitches are more like an anchor inside his body and one of them popped so the specialist said we can go in again but we don’t want to, so therefore it is time [that is needed for his recovery]. It was incredibly frustrating.
“Just from striking a ball – and just to be clear he had probably struck 100 balls, not on that day, but he was clear that he was feeling great, so that is why it is so frustrating for him.
“After all he has been through it is an incredibly frustrating thing because he was literally training with us, warming up with us, doing the early drills and then he got injured.
“He had done all of the fitness work, got back on the pitch with us, a nothing situation, striking the ball and that’s it and then he is knocked back to square one.
“That is very frustrating for a player, especially for him and his recent history of getting well again. He has dealt with it very well.”
Everton may enter talks with Tottenham
Dyche said that Everton’s director of football Kevin Thelwell will open talks with Spurs over renegotiating the deal for Dele once the midfielder makes a full recovery.
He added: “When he is fit and well, I am sure Kev rather than myself, will go to Tottenham and say: ‘Right, how can we make this work for everyone?’ It has never been at that stage, so we have to wait for it to get to that stage.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Tottenham will likely agree to renegotiate the deal as Everton are not going to pay £10m for the attacking midfielder. Let us hope the 27-year-old makes a swift recovery and is able to get his career back on track.
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