Sean Dyche makes financial ‘challenge’ admission as Dele Alli Everton update provided

Alli has recently returned to training with the Toffees but Dyche ruled him out of featuring for the Toffees against Manchester City on Wednesday (December 27).

There is a further complication involving Alli insofar as Everton will have to pay Tottenham £10million if the midfielder hits a certain number of games played.

Speaking about Alli, in quotes reported by the Independent (26 December), Dyche said: “No, not yet. No, he’s (Alli) not close yet.

“We knew when we skimmed down the squad in the summer, obviously trying to balance things financially and the money, there is a challenge with that.

“You can’t have people everywhere so you try to fill the slots the best you can and use what money is available to get a more balanced squad.

“When there are runs like this and these games, they often put pressure on the squad and that’s the way it goes, but we’ll deal with it the best we can.”

Really unfortunate

The whole situation involving Alli is an extremely sad one.

There was a great outpouring of support when he opened up on his struggles to Gary Neville back in the summer and there was a real hope he could get back playing to his best level.

However, fitness issues have continued to deny him playing, while the situation involving the structure of his deal with former club Tottenham is likely to play a huge part too.

It means Alli is in a state of flux at Goodison Park and realistically it is very difficult to see him playing for Everton again, which in a way is a shame because if he can rediscover his best then he would be a hell of a player for Everton.

But, given Dyche’s comments and the continued perilous circumstances involving Everton’s finances, it just looks increasingly unlikely. For the player, though, let’s hope there is a good long-term solution that can be found.