Former Sheffield United star Paddy Kenny has claimed it will take time for Dele Alli to rediscover his confidence at Everton given the way he was treated at Tottenham over recent years.
Alli’s seven-year spell at Tottenham came to end on the final day of January when Everton swooped to sign the midfielder permanently.
According to reports, Everton will pay £10m to Spurs for the midfielder after he has made 20 appearances for them (The Telegraph). However, Fabrizio Romano has revealed that there are plenty of add-ons in the agreement that could take the fee to as high as £33m.
The England international struggled for a consistent run in the starting line up at Spurs over the last two years and will be hoping to get his career back on track at Goodison Park.
Alli did not have the best of debuts in the Toffees shirt as Frank Lampard’s men fell to a 3-1 loss to Newcastle last week, with the former Tottenham man being dispossessed by Joe Willock in the build-up to one of Newcastle’s goals.
The midfielder gave a much better account of himself in Everton’s 3-0 win over Leeds United yesterday, putting a decent cameo off the bench as a second-half substitute.
Kenny believes that Everton must be patient with Dele given the difficult time he has endured over recent seasons.
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The former Blades goalkeeper told Football Insider: “I think it’s a case of him getting up to speed. You can’t judge him after one game. He hasn’t had a lot of game time and he’s just like everybody else.
“It can take a few games to get up to match speed and I’m sure once Dele gets more games under his belt he will come good for Everton.
“Working under Frank Lampard can only help becuase he was an unbelievable player.
“You just have to give him time. He’s not going to come in straight away and start doing it. Not after how he was treated at Tottenham over the last few years.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I do not think Dele can accuse either Nuno or Conte of treating him unfairly. In fact, he got plenty of opportunities under Nuno at the start of the season but his form went downhill after the first couple of games.
Even under Conte, the 25-year-old did well against Liverpool but followed that up with two poor performances against Morecambe and Southampton. He clearly needed a fresh start away from Spurs and I am rooting for him to do well at Everton.
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