Paul Merson has admitted he was "sad" to see Dele Alli leave Everton as he went on loan to Besiktas in Turkey as the former Arsenal midfielder hopes that the England international is personally okay after moving from Tottenham Hotspur to Goodison Park in the January transfer window.
Dele had fallen out of favour at Tottenham after being one of their most important players so he made the switch to Frank Lampard 's side hoping for regular football. This didn't quite work out for Dele after making only 13 appearances and he is now plying his trade in the Turkish Super Lig.
There is an option for the Turkish side to make the deal permanent for either £6 million or £8m depending on when, or if, the deal is triggered at all. If so, Merson fears he may never see Dele play again.
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The Sky Sports pundit said in his Daily Star column about Dele's move to Turkey: "He was the next Frank Lampard the way he arrived in the box, there was none of them about. I couldn’t talk highly enough of the kid. I find it a real shame to see him leave the Premier League.
“I don’t like to say too much because you don’t know what’s going on away from the football field but I feel for him. When he went to Everton, I thought that was an unbelievable move that would kickstart his career again.
“Now he’s gone to Turkish football, we’re never going to see him ever again. When do we ever see it on the tele? I really hoped it would work out at Everton but when you’ve got all the money in the world, it becomes harder to stay at the top. I just hope he’s alright because it is a major fall.”
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