Everton to pay up to £40m for Dele Alli – report
The details behind the move that brought Dele Alli to Everton on deadline day have been shared in a report by The Mirror.
The England international completed a permanent switch to Goodison Park on deadline day to end a horror spell at Tottenham, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with the club.
Frank Lampard was keen to bring him in but it was claimed by The Telegraph that there is no initial fee involved in the deal, with Everton paying £10m once he makes 20 appearances while clauses could take the deal up to £33m [Fabrizio Romano].
However according to The Mirror, the deal could actually reach a sum of £40m. They say that amount would only be reached if Alli reaches 80 games for the club, as well as other performance-related add-ons are met.
Alli is cup-tied in the FA Cup, so won’t be making his debut for the club until February 8th against Newcastle at the earliest.
Bending the rules
It’s a very, very clever transfer from Everton’s point of view, exposing an old Football Manager trick that plenty of fans will be familiar with.
With only a maximum of 18 games available left in the season that Dele can feature in, the club have ensured that the first payment to Spurs won’t happen until next season at the earliest which will help their FFP situation greatly.
They’ve managed to bring in a brilliant attack-minded midfielder who will have a point to prove, and he will work under a manager he idolised growing up.
It looks like a deal that works well on paper, with the final fee being relatively high but clearly fully worth it if it were to reach that point since they’re performance related.
This is a fresh start for both Everton and Dele, and it could prove to be a match made in heaven on a budget if all goes well.
In other Everton news, Everton ‘made a move’ for £110k p/w Ligue 1 player in last-gasp deal – report