Tim Sherwood, former manager of Tottenham Hotspur, has expressed his belief that Dele Alli can make a remarkable comeback and revive his career, despite struggling to make an impact at Everton and Besiktas.
After spending seven years at Tottenham Hotspur, Alli made the move to Goodison Park in January 2022. The transfer initially saw him join Everton on a free transfer, with additional fees to be paid based on performance-related clauses. One of these clauses involved a £10m payment if he reached 20 appearances for the club. However, he only made 13 Premier League appearances under Lampard last season. As a result, in August, the 27-year-old was sent on a season-long loan to Turkish club Besiktas.
Unfortunately, Alli has faced challenges in the Super Lig as well. Besiktas manager Senol Gunes has publicly criticized the midfielder’s attitude, and his season was cut short due to a recurring hip problem that required surgery.
Despite these setbacks, Tim Sherwood remains confident in the abilities of the English international. He believes that Alli can turn his fortunes around and emphasizes that he hasn’t suddenly become a bad player.
“I think Dele could still turn it around, I don’t think he’s done. He’s still young enough, but he needs someone to talk to and someone needs to talk some sense into him. He hasn’t turned into a bad player overnight, but he’s certainly lost his way,” said Sherwood, speaking on the Up Front podcast.
“Now he needs to realise that he needs to adapt and find a way. He needs to look at himself and say ‘I can still turn this around’, don’t blame anyone else and look at himself and realise that he’s still young enough.
“I’d love to see him turn it around because he’d get a lot of credit for that. As much as he feels like everyone is against him now, I think everyone would admire his determination to turn it round.
“Dele hit the floor running after he was brought in from MK Dons. He had a manager who wanted to work with him and improve him and he bought into the playing style.”
He added: “He’s not a number 10 in the way that Dennis Bergkamp or Gianfranco Zola were, he’s more of a Frank Lampard who bursts and arrives in the box and scores goals, and the team played to those strengths.
“I don’t think it’s a case of him needing to find the right club to fit him. I think he really needs to decide in his own mind that he needs to shape himself to be the right person to fit a football club and not just wait for it to happen, because it won’t. I think he’s either not listening or he’s not getting the advice.”