Explained: Why Everton may not be able to afford to let Dele Alli play for the club again

Everton might not be able to afford to let Dele Alli play again due to an appearance clause in his contract.

WHAT HAPPENED? The Toffees are in talks with Tottenham to revisit Dele's £10 million ($12m) appearance clause. The English midfielder has played just 13 times since his January 2022 move but a performance-related add-on will force the Merseyside club to cough up £10 million more once Dele completes 20 appearances.

Kevin Thelwell, Everton's director of football, is seeking a solution with Spurs to potentially restructure the deal. Everton manager Sean Dyche revealed that discussions have taken place between the two clubs but no concrete changes have occurred yet.

WHAT THEY SAID: “Kev has had a couple of phone calls, just lightly in the background. Look, where do you see it?" he said. “But nothing has changed at the moment.”

Everton's mounting financial challenges, compounded by the possibility of a 12-point deduction for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations, make it even more complicated for them to stick to the contractual obligations and hence are making a desperate attempt to get the £10 million fee waived off.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: After an ordinary spell on loan with Besiktas, Dele returned to England but picked up a groin injury in pre-season which has kept him on the sidelines. However, Dyche intends to reintegrate him into the squad when he attains full fitness.

“I must make it clear he is on the grass but still a long way from being fit,” Dyche said of the 27-year-old. “He is not training with us. He is with the sports science [staff] and he is just really getting back to where he was. He is in a good place. He is back on the grass, still quite away yet.”

IN TWO PHOTOS:

WHAT NEXT? Everton will be back in