Sources: Dele Alli heading back to England after Everton request

By David Lynch, Merseyside Correspondent

8th Apr, 2023 | 8:00am

Sources: Dele Alli flies back to England today as Everton set to terminate contract

Dele Alli will fly back to England on Saturday at the request of Everton in order to undergo further assessment on an injury, sources have told Football Insider.

The Toffees’ medical staff are eager to examine a muscle problem picked up by the Englishman while training with loan club Besiktas.

That is despite the fact that he is ineligible to feature for his parent club across the remainder of the campaign.

After a promising start that saw him score in his second appearance, Alli’s season-long stint in Turkey has turned sour in recent months.

He has not been part of Besiktas’ last four matchday squads and was recently accused by coach Senol Gunes of going AWOL after permitted time off.

“Dele Alli could not come at this time,” the boss said. “It’s raining, I guess that’s why he couldn’t come.

“We’re trying to hear from him. We could not reach you by phone. Hopefully he didn’t have an accident.”

Alli later took to Instagram to clear up the confusion, claiming: “Hey guys just had loads of messages so wanted to clear something up.

“The club gave me permission to attend a doctor’s appointment today. I’m due back in training tomorrow [Thursday] as normal.”

But any slim hopes of reconciliation appear to have been dashed by a fresh injury blow and Alli‘s imminent return to England.

With Besiktas now unlikely to trigger a £6.9m permanent clause in their loan deal, Everton are facing a fresh headache over the midfielder’s future.

Clauses worth up to £40m exist in the deal that brought Alli to Goodison Park on a free transfer from Tottenham in January of last year.

In order to avoid those being triggered, the likely outcome is that the remainder of his Everton contract is paid up this summer.

Meanwhile, big Dominic Calvert-Lewin news ahead of Everton weekend showdown.