Everton close to new Dele deal as Onana exit looms

Everton were in line to pay a serious amount of money to Spurs of around £40 million under the terms of the previous agreement, if he had played a certain number of games.

However, a change of manager from Frank Lampard - the man who signed Dele - to Sean Dyche, a loan move to Turkey and then serious injury prevented him making any impression for the Blues.

Now, having returned to Merseyside, the former England star has been in rehabilitation ever since while his contract signed in January 2022, ran down.

As well as fees for appearances, the Toffees would have had to pay another amount of money if they re-signed Dele at the end of his contract.

Dyche seems keen to try and resuscitate the career of a player once considered to be the best young midfielder in the game and so as he trains with the first-team, is considering have him rejoin the squad permanently.

To that end, Everton are close to agreeing a new deal with Spurs that would allow the Blues to get Dele back without paying out huge extra costs.

This is a debatable move given the injuries the 28-year-old has suffered and the fact that even when he was fit he looked a pale shadow of the player who had once wowed the Premier League.

On the other hand, if somehow Dyche could find a way to bring out the best in him, the Toffees would potentially have a terrific player to call upon and one who would be like a brand new signing.

At his best Dele was a superb attacking talent who could and did, create and score goals at the highest level.

Crucially too, he would bring to the Everton side something sorely missing; namely the ability to carry the ball from midfield.

And in addition, the Blues need further reinforcements in the centre of the park now with Amadou Onana's long-anticipated exit now looking more and more likely.

Onana is being strongly linked with a transfer to Aston Villa, who have already signed Lewis Dobbin from the Toffees earlier this summer.

While Dele is not a defensive midfield ball-winner like Onana, were he to return to something approaching his best he would be an ideal fit for that number ten-type role which Dyche so favours behind the lone striker in his 4-5-1 formation.

That in turn, would enable Abdoulaye Doucoure to drop into a deeper, more defensive position in the Everton midfield.

All of it is ifs, buts and maybes at the moment and depends on him signing a new deal and everything going well with his rehabilitation.

Re-signing the player is a big risk, but a fully fit and firing Dele - back to the player we all remember from four or five years ago - would though solve two problems at once, giving the Blues considerably more attacking threat and help re-shape the midfield to accommodate Onana's absence.