After Sunday’s win over Southampton, Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho said there is still a place for Dele Alli in the squad as per Daily Mail.
Spurs got their Premier League season back on track after an opening day defeat to Everton. Despite going down 1-0 on Sunday, they rallied back in brilliant fashion and won the game ended 5-2. The star of the show was Heung-min Son who scored four goals and terrorised the Saints defence throughout.
One player who wasn’t part of the squad at Southampton was midfielder Dele Alli and earlier in the week, he was linked with a move to French champions Paris Saint-Germain. The Englishman was also not a part of the matchday squad that won their Europa League playoff last Thursday.
Speaking to the media after the Southampton game, Mourinho was asked if Alli is still part of the squad. The Portuguese responded positively and when asked if the midfielder could leave North London this summer, this is what he had to say (again per Daily Mail):
“‘I want a balanced squad. That’s what I want. Can he still be in a balanced squad? Yes.
“Does he need to be sacrificed? No. But a squad is a puzzle. I left eight players behind, they stayed training this morning because they are a big group and Dele is among these players.
“You could see our team, I cannot start with all of them and I cannot have a bench without defenders or midfielders. Everything is a puzzle so, in these two matches Dele stayed out, probably Tuesday he will play and others will stay out.”
Dele Alli will get a chance to play in the Carabao Cup at Leyton Orient as the squad will have to be rotated. If he can show his manager that he deserves to play more regularly, this would be a good time to do it. He has already made over 200 appearances for the North Londoners which shows just how important he has been.
Letting such a player leave might seem undesirable, but Tottenham have made astute midfield recruitments recently that will compensate for this potential loss. Alli is a very talented player that looks a little short on confidence right now. Perhaps Tuesday’s Cup game presents him with the opportunity to get his season on track.