In the Money: Tottenham likely to face £40m hit amid Everton developments over Dele Alli
Tottenham look increasingly likely to miss out on pocketing £40million from Dele Alli’s transfer to Everton in January 2022.
Dele, 27, was allowed to join the Toffees on an initial free transfer but an eventual fee for him could rise as high as £40million if certain goals are met. The first £10million of that would be due once the midfielder has made 20 appearances for the Merseyside club.
However, it doesn’t seem likely that will happen right now with Dele stuck on 13 appearances in all competitions for the Blues. Due to injuries, poor form and a loan spell at Besiktas last season, the troubled former England star hasn’t made an appearance for his team since August 2022
The Mirror reported on 2 November that Everton started talks with Tottenham over a plan that would see that £10million fee waived so Dele can revive his stalled career at Goodison Park.
It was also reported earlier this month that due to Everton’s poor financial health, they will not allow Dele to reach his 20th appearance unless they can avoid paying Spurs that £10million fee.
Everton seem to have shot themselves in the foot, however, because talks over waiving that payment don’t seem as though they’ll be successful.
The Daily Mail reported on 20 November that Spurs are unhappy with Everton for effectively blaming the North London club for failing to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
Everton were docked 10 points last week for over-spending but Daniel Levy was absurdly blamed for not paying £80million for Richarlison, paying £60million for the Brazilian instead.
Everton now seem to have two choices.
Once Dele returns to fitness, they try to re-integrate him into the senior side and if he performs well in his first handful of appearances, they’ll take the plunge, let him play his 20th game and pay Spurs £10million.
Let’s face it, it’s unlikely Levy will be willing to do Everton any favours after they tried to throw him under the bus for their own ridiculous spending.
Or their other choice, which seems most likely, is to not play Dele, meaning he could only have six appearances in him at Everton before he’s either frozen out, loaned out or sold.
It means that if Everton don’t end up playing Dele 20 times, Spurs won’t get that first £10million payment and, therefore, won’t receive the next £30million either.
It’s a substantial hit. However, the money saved in getting Dele’s wages off the books is likely offset that missed windfall by a decent amount.
The Times has previously reported that Dele was earning £100,000-a-week at Tottenham on a contract that wouldn’t have expired until the end of this season.
If Dele hadn’t joined Everton and saw out that deal until the end of June 2024, it would have cost Spurs at least £12.5million in wages. There would have no doubt been other fees spent on Dele, such as the medical bills he’s currently racking up at Goodison Park too.
Ultimately, it’s a financial win for Spurs because they have saved a lot of money.
However, they are also missing out on a fair bit of cash too, which would have no doubt proven a boost in upcoming transfer windows.
In other Tottenham news, if Gary Lineker is right, Spurs will gain over £12million next year.