Revealed: ‘Catch 22’ holding Dele Alli back at Everton & terms of Tottenham deal as ex-England international uses ‘World Cup 2026’ as motivational message in latest return from injury

Dele finds himself nursing another injury at present, which is preventing him from staking a claim to a new contract at Goodison Park. His previous deal expired at the end of last season, meaning that the 28-year-old midfielder is training with the Toffees as a free agent.

According to the Daily Mail, former club Spurs have written off a £10 million ($13m) payment that would have been due to them if Dele reaches 20 appearances for Everton – having figured for them 13 times so far. His last outing of any kind came during a loan spell at Besiktas in February 2023.

While Tottenham have agreed to waive that fee, they are said to be in line for “performance-related bonuses” and a sell-on clause if Dele does do enough to secure fresh terms on Merseyside. Said quest is proving difficult.

That is because the Mail reports on how Dele is being prevented from figuring in U21 games as he is not registered to the Toffees. Behind-closed-doors friendlies are one option that could be explored once he is fit enough to take to the field.

Elsewhere, it is claimed that Dele has set a pop-up alarm on his phone that goes off at 11am and features the message “World Cup 2026”. He did grace FIFA’s flagship event in 2018, and has 37 senior caps to his name, but has not been called upon by the Three Lions since 2019.