Dele Alli delights Besiktas manager as Everton loanee sets about change of fortunes
Dele Alli may have flopped at Everton but he still has stardom in his locker having been the key man for Besiktas in a recent friendly, according to Sabah.
The 26-year-old played 80 minutes of a 4-0 win against Istanbulspor and while he did not get on the scoresheet, he did provide a number of special moments throughout the night.
Black and Whites manager Senol Gunes was particularly impressed by the England international and is now likely to play him more often in the Turkish Super League when their season resumes.
Alli’s loan spell in Turkey had been going poorly before Gunes took over from Valerien Ismael but he now seems to be a key player and has been revolutionised at Vodafone Park.
Besiktas have the option to sign Alli permanently in January and again in the summer – albeit for slightly more money – but he will return to Everton if they do not pull the trigger.
Relief
Frank Lampard will be hoping Alli can keep up his good form of recent into the rest of the season to hopefully entice Besiktas into paying the optional future fee written into his loan agreement.
The Toffees have moved past any system that utilises a free-roaming number 10 which is the only role the 26-year-old can seemingly play well with any kind of consistency.
He was tried out as a false nine striker and out wide to begin the 2022-23 season but things never clicked at all and eventually, Salomon Rondon was the preferred choice.
That left him with no choice but to leave and it is certainly for the better for him and the football club because he would hardly get a minute on the pitch in Merseyside, even with the side struggling at the moment.
His long-term future could lie in Turkey but it should not be at Goodison Park at all costs.