Dele Alli may have played final Everton match as Tottenham dealt £10m setback

17 February 2024 , 21:11

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Dele Alli may now have played his final match for Everton (Image: Getty Images)

Dele Alli may have already played his last game for Everton - much to the frustration of his former club Tottenham.

Spurs are due a payment of £10million once he clocks up 20 appearances for the Toffees. He is currently on 13 but now looks incredibly unlikely to reach the landmark, which Tottenham unsuccessfully attempted to re-negotiate in early December.

The north London club proposed the idea of reducing the payment to £8m in exchange for lowering the number of appearances that were required.

However, it now looks as though Everton will swerve the deal altogether as they seek to keep their finances in check after being deducted 10 points for breaching profit and sustainability rules back in November.

Dele's Goodison Park contract is due to expire at the end of the season and the prospect of an extension currently looks unlikely. Sources have refused to disclose whether Spurs would be entitled to compensation should the England international fail to reach 20 appearances on Merseyside.

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Relations between the two clubs soured back in November when it emerged that Everton had accused Spurs of exploiting their financial struggles by driving a hard bargain in the transfer market.

The Toffees claimed Tottenham's refusal to pay £80m for Richarlison, who was instead signed for £60m, was 'directly attributable to PSR calculation difficulties.'

Dele, who has not featured for the Toffees since August 2022, was forced to undergo groin surgery at the end of January following another unwanted injury setback. He has not played a competitive match since February 2023 when he lined up for Besiktas against Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig.

Dele Alli last featured for Everton in August 2022 (PA)

Everton have now agreed to give Dele "time and space" to focus on his recovery having granted the attacking midfielder permission to watch former side Tottenham beat Brighton 2-1 last weekend.

The initial transfer, sealed on deadline day in early 2022, was worth up to £40m and was structured based on performance-related add-ons.

Sean Dyche, who has continued to support his player following his brave battle with mental health struggles, said on Dele's condition earlier this week: "We'll see [when he returns], he's got a long way to go and we have deliberately kept him back from it and I agreed that with him just to give him time and give him space, so that's what we're doing. Hopefully he'll be back, we don't know.

"We're giving him the privacy that he needs at this time. He's in a good state, I spoke to him recently and had a good, long conversation with him. Making sense of another injury is difficult but he'll come through that I'm sure."

Ryan Taylor