Everton respond to new Tottenham proposal over reduced £8m Dele Alli deal
Everton have rejected a proposal from Tottenham to alter the terms of a £10million agreement over midfielder Dele Alli, according to The Times.
Tom Allnutt reported for the British publication on Saturday (9 December) that Spurs wanted to lower the payment to £8m, but also lower threshold for the number of games Dele must play to trigger that payment.
That would have effectively meant a smaller financial burden for the Toffees, but a higher likelihood of having to pay the sum to Spurs, which the club turned down.
Sad state of affairs
Dele has been stuck on 13 appearances for Everton since August last year – seven short of the initial cut-off point for the first of the payments Spurs are holding out for.
Not helped by injury issues, the latest of which he is soon to return from, Dele has not been given a look-in since returning from a loan spell with Besiktas last season.
Given Everton’s financial issues, it is no surprise that the club do not fancy paying £8m for the luxury of basically getting Dele back to full fitness ahead of his contract expiring next summer.
It is a rather sad state of affairs when you consider the midfielder’s potential earlier in his career, and you have to feel sympathy for him as his career will continue to stagnate while at Goodison.
Everton cannot be blamed for rejecting Tottenham’s – let’s face it – rather desperate attempt to get us to pay for a player they gave us for nothing just under two years ago.
Spurs must accept the financial hit, while Everton may well look to get Dele’s wages off their books as early as January so that he can reignite his career elsewhere.
In other Everton news, a journalist made a “robbery” joke in reference to the Toffees in a swipe at a relegation rival.