Everton ‘open’ to offering Dele Alli new contract

Highlights

• Dele Alli could be offered a new contract at Everton despite recent injury setbacks at Goodison Park.
• The Toffees haven’t ruled out Dele’s return to action by pre-season.
• Sean Dyche has been unable to select the 27-year-old due to injury but will hope he can become part of his plans once fit.

Everton have not ruled out offering Dele Alli a new contract at Goodison Park this summer after returning to Finch Farm for the next stages of his injury rehab, according to The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland.

Sean Dyche has been unable to select Dele during his time on Merseyside, owing to the fact he has been absent from the squad through injury, after an unsuccessful loan move to Besiktas last season.

The midfielder is yet to make his first appearance during the 2023/24 season after having surgery to repair a tendon in his rectus femoris muscle in April 2023, alongside an operation on a quad issue suffered in November of that year.

Dele’s current deal at Everton is due to expire at the end of the campaign, but the midfielder may have been offered hope that he will get another crack at the whip in the Premier League.

Everton refusing to rule out Dele contract extension

The midfielder has been dealt several injury setbacks

According to Boyland, writing in The Athletic, Everton are open to handing Dele a new contract and a return to action by pre-season this summer has yet to be ruled out.

The 27-year-old is keen to remain in the Premier League, but uncertainty over the club’s takeover process means that any decision will almost certainly have to wait until the summer.

Dele has not only had injury issues to deal with, after bravely opening up on his traumatic childhood on The Overlap with Gary Neville in July 2023, as well as revealing he had recently spent a stint in rehab after battling a sleeping pill addiction:

“I was in a bad place mentally. I decided to go to a modern rehab facility that deals with addiction and mental health and trauma. I felt it was time for me. I was in a bad cycle, relying on things that were doing me harm. I was waking up every day, winning the fight, going into training every day, smiling — willing to show I was happy. Inside, I was losing the battle and it was time to change. When I was told I needed surgery, I could feel the feelings I had when the cycle began.”

Dele’s injury setbacks

The Everton star hopes to eventually make a Premier League return

Since suffering his initial tendon injury with Besiktas in April 2023, Dele’s recovery has been fraught with setbacks. The former England international was in full training ahead of a potential comeback for Everton ahead of the 2023/24 season before injury struck again. After heading to Dubai to regain his fitness, Dele suffered a recurrence of a quad injury in November, which required surgery.

However, there is a belief at Everton that the ex-Tottenham Hotspur man is making good progress in his recovery and that he is eager to repay the faith shown in him. Dele has returned to Finch Farm this week to step up his rehabilitation, and there is an acceptance that he must tread carefully, given his recent luck with injuries.