Everton's Dele Alli has broken his silence after completing a season-long loan move to Turkish giants Besiktas.
The deal was confirmed on Thursday afternoon and he will remain with his new club for the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign. He was one of Frank Lampard 's first signings as manager back in January this year, but he's only made 13 first team appearances for Everton in all competitions so far.
Alli made just two substitute appearances so far this campaign and wasn't in the squad for the Carabao Cup win over Fleetwood Town earlier this week. There had been speculation over his future throughout the summer and he's now completed the loan switch and is playing for a club abroad for the first time.
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He said in an interview with his new club: "It's my first time playing for a club abroad but since I arrived, the feeling has been amazing. The passion I can already feel around the place is amazing.
"I'm excited to get started and get going, it's a new challenge for me and one that I'm looking forward to. I spoke to a couple of the players before coming here, I spoke to the manager as well and it's only been positive things said so far. I'm happy to be here and the energy from the fans when I arrived was amazing.
"I've had a few different numbers (in my career) but let's see what number 11 brings. There was a few options, but first was going to be 10 and then 20, then 11. I want to thank the fans for their support so far, I'm going to repay them and fight for them every minute I'm on the pitch. In training I'm going to work hard and hopefully I can entertain and bring a lot of success."
Alli received a heroes welcome when he arrived in Istanbul to complete the signing in the early hours of Thursday morning. Supporters greeted him at the airport in their numbers with the club's chants.
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