Spotted: Dele Alli arrives in Istanbul ahead of Everton exit – Fabrizio Romano
Dele Alli has been spotted in Istanbul as he closes in on leaving Everton to join Turkish Super Lig giants Besitkas, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Guardian journalist reported via his personal Twitter account late on Wednesday night (24 August) that Alli, 26, has landed in Turkey with his agents and will undergo a medical in the coming hours.
Romano also shared a video clip of Alli being greeted by Besiktas fans upon his arrival in Turkey.
Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna also shared an image of Alli holding up a Besiktas scarf.
Bye bye
Alli’s going to Besiktas on an initial loan but it could be made permanent in the future.
And we do hope that permanent option is triggered by Besiktas, who have done very well by their standards to be able to secure the coup for Alli.
From Everton’s point of view, it gets him off the wage bill and stops them from triggering an appearance-related clause that means Tottenham are due a transfer fee for the midfielder.
Spurs really lost out when they let Alli go on a free transfer in January.
Despite his massive decline, there are clearly still clubs out there who would be willing to sign the once-promising England international.
For Alli’s sake and for the sake of the England national team, we hope that Alli is able to get back to the level he was around 2017 and 2018 while he’s at Besiktas.
He should easily be the best player in the Turkish Super Lig but there’s a worry that he’s gone over to Istanbul to let his career peter out.
It would be a massive shame but from Everton’s perspective, this is good business considering he arrived for free in January and has done the square root of nothing since.