Where is Dele Alli and why isn't he on the pitch?

After a lengthy period on the sidelines, Dele Alli is eager to make his comeback in football. His main goal is not only to resume playing but also to secure a spot in the England squad for the 2026 World Cup.

The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder earned his first England gap in October 2015, aged 19, and went on to earn another 35 caps before finding himself out of the frame in 2019.

Dele left Spurs in January 2022, joining Premier League rivals Everton, but he is now a free agent after his deal at Goodison Park expired in the summer.

Dele Alli has eyes set on triumphant return and hopes to regain England place

Dele last played a competitive game while on loan at Besiktas in February 2023, when he suffered a hip injury that required an operation and ruled him out for the rest of the season.

While still recovering from that, the midfielder suffered a groin injury that ultimately also required surgery and ruled him out of the Everton side for the entire 2023/24 season, despite initial hopes that he may be able to return last January.

Dele's remains without a club after his deal at Everton expired, but has been training at Everton's facilities nonetheless to build his fitness back up in hopes of making a return.

The Daily Mail write that Everton are open to the idea of re-signing Dele if he can get there - and that Tottenham Hotspur have generously told the Toffees that he does return to action, they would not hold Everton to a £10m appearance-related agreement made when Everton signed him back in 2022.

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That amount was due to be payable upon the England international making 20 appearances for the club, but his tally only reached 13 during his initial spell. Tottenham would reportedly instead be re-paid in performance-related bonus and a sell-on clause.

Dele picked up a slight muscle strain a couple of weeks ago that has set him back slightly, but is not believed to be too serious.

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Dele is limited to playing behind-closed-doors friendlies while he remains unregistered by Everton, but they would be able to sign him as a free agent at any time.

However, Everton already appear to have the maximum permitted 25 players registered to their squad, and so would need to wait until the January transfer window to ship someone out (or de-register them) before Dele could play in the Premier League.