Dele Alli was one of the first Everton players to return for pre-season training
.jpg "Dele Alli 'returns first for pre-season' with Everton fans split over last chance")
Dele Alli was one of the first through the door at Everton's Finch Farm training ground for the start of pre-season on Thursday and fans can't decide whether the club should offer him a lifeline or not.
The former Tottenham ace has had a torrid stint at Goodison Park so far, having failed to break into the first team after joining mid-way through the 2021/22 campaign before spending last season on loan at Besiktas, who tried to terminate his contract in March.
Toffees boss Sean Dyche plans to assess Alli over the coming weeks before deciding whether or not to keep him in his squad, though a number of supporters of social media don't think it's worth it.
"There's nothing to 'look at'. We have 18 months of clear evidence that a judgement should be based on," one fan tweeted.
Another wrote: "100K a week. Get him out, we could bring in a really good loan player with those wages," while a third fan said: "We all know how this gonna end."
Others, however, were a little more optimistic, with one writing: "I would absolutely love it if SD can get a tune out of him. I'm really cynical about it, but it would be a stroke of managerial genius".
"Just imagine if prime Dele Alli turns up," gushed another, while a third added: "If Dele can get through a Dyche training camp, he may regain some of his confidence and become a decent player again."
Fan optimism aside, Everton may not be able to afford giving Alli the chance to resurrect his career due to the conditions of his move from Tottenham in January 2022.
The midfielder initially arrived on a free transfer, but performance-related add-ons could see the fee rise as high as £40m.
The Merseyside club will owe Spurs £10m if Alli makes just seven more appearances, so the 27-year-old will need to blow his coaches away in the coming weeks to convince them he's worth keeping, particularly given Everton's financial troubles.
Okeke George Chijioke
When you don't see Okeke George blogging, he sure will engage him self in sporting activities.
