Dele deal represents latest terrible Everton transfer move

So, after just seven and a half months as an Everton player it looks as though Dele Alli is on his way out of the club as a move to Turkey gathers pace.

Reports claim the ex-Spurs’ star is on his way to Besiktas, possibly initially on loan with an option to buy, as his brief time at Everton appears to be over, at least for now.

This is quite a turnaround from the end of January when Dele arrived on Merseyside as Frank Lampard’s second signing as Toffees’ boss.

He was seen very much as a player that Lampard himself was particularly keen to bring to Goodison Park in the hope he could help the ex-England international revive his career.

The deal was structured to try and ensure that any money paid to Tottenham was based on appearances, but it might still have cost up to around £40 million.

I was surprised at the time by this move as I thought the Blues’ needed to try and get a defensive player in, not another attacking midfielder, especially as they had also added Donny van De Beek on a six month loan at the same time and both liked to play in a similar position.

Dele’s talent is undoubted and he has been an outstanding footballer in the recent past both for Tottenham and England.

Although I hadn’t been keen on his signing, obviously I hoped it would work. But, he hasn’t been able to replicate that form in a royal blue shirt since his arrival at the beginning of the year.

Partly, I think this is because he hasn’t had much playing time or a settled position since joining Everton, with much of that coming on as a substitute as well, making it difficult to always get a grip on and influence games.

However, apart from the Crystal Palace match – when he was oustanding and possibly pivitol in that turnaround which saved the Toffees’ from relegation – on most occasions he’s not exactly sparkled.

Now though, it seems as though after having brought in the player less than eight months ago, Lampard is ready to cut his losses and let his deadline day signing leave the club.

The fact the manager didn’t pick him last weekend at Aston Villa, when he clearly felt Salomon Rondon wasn’t ready to play from the start, was I think also telling.

What I fear however is that he will turn out to be another of the many recent signings the club have made over the last five or six years, which have cost the Blues’ a fortune.

Those deals have included players like Yanick Bolasie, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott, among others.

All have cost millions in transfer fees and wages and in cases like Sigurdsson and Tosun they have hung on to collect their money right to the end of their contracts, even if possible moves to other clubs might have materalised.

Hopefully, if he is no longer in Lampard’s plans, Everton can cut their losses on Dele, whether that means he moves to a club like Besiktas or somewhere else, without having to pay the hefty wages and a huge additional fee to Spurs.

However, it doesn’t exactly look very good having brought him in less that eight months ago to be jettisoning the player so soon. Instead it looks like another busted transfer move to add to the long list above.

Critically, the club must learn the lesson of these failed high-profile signings and hopefully we won’t see any more huge outlays on players who have it seems lost their way in the game.