Dele Alli was among the first players to arrive at Finch Farm as Everton began pre-season training on Thursday.
The 27-year-old has endured a tough time over recent years and his loan at Turkish side Besiktas came to an early end last season through injury.
The former Tottenham Hotspur star had joined the Super Lig club after he was deemed surplus to requirements by then Blues boss Frank Lampard after failing to take advantage of some summer opportunities last year and cement a place in his first team.
But Dele now has a new manager to impress and has started in positive fashion - being one of the first to arrive as Everton returned to action.
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This is set to be a significant summer for Dele. After rising to the top of the game and playing key roles in England’s journey to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and Spurs’ run to the Champions League final in 2019, his career has gone backwards. Brought to Everton by Lampard in January of last year, he had an intriguing start to his Blues career. While he struggled to make a consistent impact he was involved in several key moments and his half-time introduction changed the game as Everton came from 2-0 down to defeat Crystal Palace and seal safety in the penultimate game of the season.
He travelled to the US with the first team last summer but it was in the game against Blackpool that he provided hope of a return to form as he scored twice at Bloomfield Road. He was unable to build on that, however, and ended up on a turbulent loan move to Besiktas. That ended early when he returned to the UK for surgery on an issue with a hip muscle in April.
Upon his return, Dele spoke with his new boss Sean Dyche, who unsurprisingly was waiting for his players when they turned up at Finch Farm today. Dyche offered a positive appraisal of that conversation at the time and said: “I just got a sense that he wants to be back playing football and playing well.”
He added: “I’ve heard all the noise, I’ve heard all the opinions and I’m pretty sure that you’re aware that I like to make my own. But he needs to get fit. I’ve met him but I haven’t seen him train, I haven’t seen him play for Everton, I haven’t seen him train with us every day… it’s important that he gets himself properly fit and - if he needs an op or doesn’t - then make sure his fitness is good and make sure he’s well and ready to go.”
Dyche will take a look at Dele before making a judgement on whether he will be part of the first team this season - one potential issue being the £10m payment Everton would need to make to Spurs should Dele player a further seven league games. The first senior players to arrive, as well as Dele, were Dwight McNeil and Nathan Patterson, who were joined by academy starlets Lewis Warrington, Lewis Dobbin and Tom Cannon.
