Everton ace Dele Alli shares fresh injury update in New Year message to fans
Dele Alli has confirmed he has suffered another injury setback ahead of his potential return to the first team in a new message to Everton fans on New Year’s Eve.
The midfielder explained that he had been close to a return to full training with Sean Dyche and his squad before the setback, but will be working hard to return to playing as soon as possible.
He thanked fans for the love and support they have shown to him over the past year and went on to wish fans the best in the new year, concluding that he would be seeing them soon.
Alli took to Instagram to address fans in a New Year’s message [31 December], writing: “As the year comes to an end, I just wanted to say thank you for the incredible support I’ve received over the last 12 months.
“This year has been a little different for me. I’ve learned and experienced a lot, had ups and downs, but throughout it all you’ve always shown me so much love.
“Unfortunately, the year isn’t ending as I would have hoped, I had been close to returning to full training but frustratingly I’ve had another setback with my injury. I’ll be out again for a short while but my outlook and mentality is nothing but positive. I’ll be attacking my physiotherapy and giving it everything to be back on the pitch as soon as possible.
“I hope you’ve had the year you wanted, and wishing you all nothing but the best for 2024. Happy New Year, see you guys soon. Dele.”
Positives to be seen but it’s another setback
Just as there had been some hope that Alli would finally make his return to Goodison Park after everything that he has gone through in his personal life, as explained on The Overlap with Gary Neville [13 July], this will be yet another kick in the teeth for the midfielder.
What has undoubtedly been a tough year for Alli both on and off the pitch ended in further frustration, with injuries continuing to blight his spell on Merseyside, but patience will be required both from himself and the fans in this process.
Everton fans will also be frustrated by the news, having hoped to see him return after the positive progress made to get back into training with the team just for the setback to knock him back to what feels like square one again.
On the positive side, Alli’s determination to continue his recovery progress and work hard with the club doctors and physiotherapists to ensure he can return to Premier League football as soon as possible should see him come back fitter and stronger when he does make his return.
In other Everton news, Kevin Campbell named one Everton star in his team of the season.