Tottenham were 'surprised' to sell Dele Alli on a permanent basis on transfer deadline day... and couldn't believe their luck at sealing a deal that could potentially land them £40million.
Alli was part of a mini exodus on a frantic final day of at the January transfer window Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil and Giovani Lo Celso all also departing.
Juventus duo Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski arrived at the club to hand Antonio Conte reinforcements.
The permanent departure of Alli to Everton was perhaps the most unexpected for not just the fans but the club as well, with Spurs having initially expected that the 25-year-old would head to Newcastle on loan instead.
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But when the Toffees, having announced the arrival of new boss Frank Lampard, came in with a bid to take him away permanently, according to The Athletic, Spurs couldn’t quite believe their luck.
Lampard gave the go ahead to a permanent move with Everton's loan quota already full, according to Premier League rules, following the January arrivals of Anwar El Ghazi and Donny van de Beek.
So that left them with no choice but to strike up a permanent deal for Alli, and while he heads to Merseyside for nothing initially, both parties came out of the deal very happy.
Everton could eventually pay up to £40 million for the transfer of Alli, who has signed a two-and-a-half year deal, but the first £10m won’t be paid until Alli has registered 20 appearances on Merseyside.
They will only pay the full amount if he reaches 80 appearances, plus other performance related add-ons.
If Alli can rediscover his early career form at Goodison Park then it will be a great move for Lampard, and Alli is looking forward to working under his new manager after a difficult couple of years.
"I'm very excited. It has been a long day but we got there in the end and I'm delighted," he told Sky Sports after his move was officially completed.
Explaining the role Frank Lampard played in his decision to depart Spurs, Alli added: "I've had a few good conversations with him already.
"He is a player I admired my whole career and to have the opportunity to work with him is exciting. I'm sure we're going to do great things together. I just want to be happy playing football.
"Working with Lampard and all the great players they've got there, I think it's a great opportunity for me to do that and I'm excited to go there and show the fans what I can do and help the club as much as I can."
