Dele Alli’s message to Donny van de Beek shows happier times and Everton opportunity missed
Dele Alli wished his fellow January signing Donny van de Beek a happy birthday on Instagram in a sad reminder of an opportunity missed for the Everton pair.
Both once considered top European midfielders, the duo arrived at a struggling Toffees side at the end of the winter window largely because of their reduced circumstances.
New manager Frank Lampard had little time to bring in who he wanted but was able to convince the two that he was the man to help revive their flagging careers, yet it hasn’t happened.
Manchester United loanee van de Beek turns 25 today (18 April) so ex-Tottenham man Dele posted three images of the two together on his Instagram stories to mark the day.
Unfortunately for both, the best available picture in a Toffees context is of the two of them being paraded on the Goodison pitch before they had kicked a ball for the club.
The other two photos show them facing off against each other in their heyday, the Champions League semi-final between Ajax and Tottenham three years ago.
What might have been
Had the two players depicted operating at the business end of Europe’s biggest competition been the ones dropped into Lampard’s squad then it is hard to imagine relegation would remain a going concern today.
At that time neither would likely have expected the following three seasons to go the way they have done.
After losing the final to Liverpool, injuries began to crop up for Dele, and following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino he lost his way under Jose Mourinho like so many before him.
He is struggling for game time currently, and although there is reportedly no current issue (The Athletic) he surely won’t be happy to be overlooked in favour of everyone, up to and including Mason Holgate, for long.
Van de Beek’s fortunes took a nose dive following a £40million move to Old Trafford, where he was routinely overlooked by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and had to settle for occasional substitute outings.
He was reportedly hoping for a permanent exit (Manchester Evening News) until his former Ajax boss became the preferred choice to take over from Ralf Rangnick, and now looks set to return for another opportunity.
What were essentially a pair of low-risk, high-reward signings three months ago haven’t panned out.
In an ideal world the pair would have regained their previous form after being freed from the misery of their previous situations.
But, while the Dutchman started strongly, and the Englishman showed early signs, neither have been seen for some weeks through a combination of injury, loan rules and lack of form.
The Instagram post is an unfortunately poignant illustration of an opportunity missed on Merseyside.
In other Everton news, one of the two is set to get another chance to reignite his career after the latest update from Fabrizio Romano.
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