Dele Alli was eyeing a return for Everton having not played a professional game since February, but has now been dealt another injury blow in the form of a thigh problem
The Everton midfielder revealed on social media that he is sidelined “for a short while” after a recurrence of a thigh issue. Alli, 27, was back training on the grass at the Toffees’ Finch Farm training ground in recent weeks.
The former Tottenham ace was hoping to begin team training soon after working closely with the club’s sports scientists.
He said: “Unfortunately, the year isn’t ending as I would have hoped. I had been close to returning to full training but frustratingly I’ve had another setback with my injury.
“I’ll be out again for [a] short while but my outlook and mentality is nothing but positive. I’ll be attacking my physiotherapy and giving it everything to be back on the pitch as soon as possible.”
Alli has not played since February when he was on loan at Besiktas and his Everton contract expires this summer. He had surgery on his thigh on returning from his loan spell in Turkey and then spent six weeks in a rehab centre in America to help deal with a sleeping pill addiction.
Everton signed Alli from Spurs two years ago in a bizarre deal that meant the club didn’t have to pay Tottenham until he reached a set number of appearances. It is understood that the Toffees would have to cough up £10m if he plays another seven games for the Blues.
Everton have tried to renegotiate that deal with Tottenham given their financial situation. But a proposal from Spurs to reduce the fee to £8m if they agreed to fewer games was turned down by the Blues.
