Major stumbling block as Besiktas look to send Dele Alli back to Everton – BBC Sport
Besiktas are facing a “major stumbling block” as they look to send Dele Alli back to Everton early, according to BBC Sport.
The Toffees midfielder is on loan with the Turkish giants, but hasn’t featured since he was criticised by replacement manager Senol Gunes before the World Cup [Daily Express, 1 November].
The 26-year-old has scored two goals from nine games in all competitions, but Besiktas are now investigating a way to cancel the season-long deal and have run up against a financial hurdle in the agreement they reached with the player.
The BBC Sport report says: “Alli agreed a guaranteed £1.94m for the loan plus a maximum of £8,400 per game.
“BBC Sport understands a major stumbling block is paying off the £1.14m remaining on the deal.
“However, there is no recall option in the loan deal so if Besiktas want to terminate early, they would be liable for the entire loan fee and the remainder of Alli’s wages for the season.”
Difficulties
If that is what the club agreed to pay Dele then that is what they owe him if they want to send him back, so it seems fairly simple from a contractual standpoint, but it leaves the Englishman in limbo in the meantime.
Things started out fairly positively for the former Tottenham star at the Vodafone Park, with a break from the Premier League seeming like the change he needed.
But it appears to be a measure of how the deal hasn’t gone to plan that Besiktas planned to pay him a lot more money, let alone the fact that they have an option to make the move permanent which presumably is in little danger of happening now.
Dele will inevitably attract scrutiny once again now that another move hasn’t worked out for him, but he hasn’t exactly landed on his feet since he left Spurs.
Snapped up for no up-front fee by Frank Lampard as the new Everton boss looked to add to his squad in the minuscule amount of time he had been left in last season’s January window, the one-time England star found himself in the midst of a relegation battle under a new manager trying to turn around a toxic situation after the exit of Rafa Benitez.
Then, the long-term plan for him at Goodison Park was suddenly jettisoned earlier this season in favour of the move to the Turkish Super Lig, but with the side struggling down in sixth and having sacked Valerien Ismael to appoint Gunes on 28 October he was left in a not dissimilar environment.
For a player obviously struggling for confidence after whatever happened at Tottenham, neither situation is especially conducive to a resurgence, and given the Toffees’ ongoing struggles it makes a fruitful return to Merseyside unlikely.