Everton are miles away from considering Dele Alli for a starting position, according to Sean Dyche.
The midfielder spent last season on loan at Besiktas before coming back to Goodison Park. He scored three goals in 15 games for the Turkish team before being forced to return to Merseyside in April for hip surgery.
He then spent the summer in an American recovery facility where he later confessed to having a sleeping drug addiction while being abused as a child.
On Gary Neville’s “The Overlap”, he most recently revealed his horrible childhood experience and admitted he underwent six weeks in a rehab center in the United States. However, his manager has reaffirmed that Alli is now in a much better place personally.
The 27-year-old was once among Europe’s most sought-after young performers. In addition to guiding Tottenham Hotspur to the Champions League final in 2019, he also assisted England in reaching the World Cup semifinals in 2018. However, his performance at Spurs declined, and in January 2022 he decided to go to Everton.
If Alli makes seven more appearances for the Toffees, Tottenham will demand a payment of £10 million. But Dyche admitted Alli is still unable to play for Everton after Saturday’s 1-0 preseason success over Sporting CP.
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The Everton boss said: “He is still not over his injury yet. He is well in himself but he is not over his injury yet. We are miles away from that (thinking about role in squad), he is just getting himself right again.
“He is feeling good and now we will be working with him, on top of that, to make sure the injury is right. But it is still going to be a bit of time yet.”
Alli and Dominic Calvert-Lewin might be able to form a relationship like the one Harry Kane and the England international did at White Hart Lane if they can both stay fit for the bulk of the season.
We can only hope that the distance between him and the first team that Dyche has stated will be covered more quickly than most anticipate and that we will see him playing in the Premier League sooner rather than later.
