Dele Alli’s future is in his own hands as he begins his recovery from a hip injury that has ruled him out for the rest of the season, Sean Dyche said.
The 27-year-old is not expected to play again for Besiktas, the club he is currently on loan from Everton with. The two sides are yet to agree where Dele’s injury will initially be managed with a specialist set to advise on whether an operation will be required in the coming days.
Wherever his rehabilitation begins he will get full support from Merseyside, Dyche insisted. The Blues boss confirmed he has spoken with the midfielder and revealed: “I just got a sense that he wants to be back playing football and playing well.”
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Dele is out for an estimated eight to 10 weeks, an absence that would take him beyond the end of the Turkish Super Lig season. An unhappy loan spell has seen him make 13 appearances, his last coming in February. He was given permission to return to the UK over the weekend but where he will spend the initial weeks of his recovery is still unclear.
Dyche explained: “We are going to work that out between the clubs because in theory he is their player contractually. We are working out the situation between the clubs. But he will get full support from us medically.”
Of the conversation shared between the pair, Dyche said: “[It was] about his injury, how he saw it. How he saw his time on loan and how he saw what he wants to do. First thing first is get the injury right, you can’t do anything when you’re injured. As regards football. Anything else is down to him. He’s 27, he’s pretty well travelled in the sense of football and the football world and what he has achieved at a young age. Some of it is common sense, do the right things and you know what the right things are.”
Dele has a further year left on his Everton contract and speculation has surrounded his future. First, Dyche said, he needs to get fit. Further discussions over what happens next will then follow. He did offer those in his first team squad a clean slate upon his appointment in late January and the revival of two players frozen out under Frank Lampard, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Michael Keane, has underscored his willingness to reach his own decisions on players.
Discussing Dele’s current situation, he said he hoped the player would use the time "wisely", adding, from his perspective: “There isn’t anything other than getting him fit. I’ve heard all the noise, I’ve heard all the opinions and I’m pretty sure that you’re aware that I like to make my own. But he needs to get fit. I’ve met him but I haven’t seen him train, I haven’t seen him play for Everton, I haven’t seen him train with us every day… it’s important that he gets himself properly fit and - if he needs an op or doesn’t - then make sure his fitness is good and make sure he’s well and ready to go.”
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