Besiktas sporting director claims ‘no-one can answer’ Dele Alli conundrum amid the Everton loanee’s poor form in Turkey… after boss Seno Gunels said the former Spurs star had fallen ‘below expectations’
Ceyhun Kazanci has been left bemused by Dele Alli‘s startling fall from grace, with the Besiktas sporting director desperate for the former England star to return to his best.
Alli, who is on a season-long loan at the Turkish side, has failed to build on his previously uninspiring form at Everton, though he is not the only one who has gone on to prove surplus to requirements for the Toffees.
Having failed to secure himself a permanent berth under Frank Lampard at Goodison Park, Alli sought success overseas, although he has fared little better with just two goals in 10 appearances.
Ceyhun Kazanci claimed that ‘no one can answer’ whether Dele Alli can return to form
‘No-one can answer whether Dele Alli can do it right now,’ said Kazanci. ‘He is working very hard. He is a player who reached €100million (£87m) three years ago. He had a fall.’
But it is not for want of trying, as Kazanci insists that the English midfielder has been putting in the work on the training pitch, and the sporting director remains optimistic for what the future holds for Alli.
‘Dele Alli is working intensively,’ Kazanci told TRT Spor. ‘We had intense talks with him before we signed him,’ he said.
Alli has managed only two goals in eight appearances since his switch to the Turkish Super Lig
‘Senol is famous for returning many players whose careers have been on the decline. We hope that he will be better in the second half of the season.’
And Kazanci is not the only figure at the Turkish Super Lig to be growing increasingly impatient with the English midfielder.
‘I couldn’t affect the players,’ said manager Senol Gunes earlier in the season, after Alli was hooked at half-time in a particularly disappointing performance.
‘Now I can easily touch them but we haven’t touched Dele Alli yet. Let’s not discuss Dele Alli as a player but he is below expectations in terms of efficiency.’
Kazanci admitted that the former Tottenham midfielder was still working ‘very hard’ at the club
England’s unsuccessful bid for World Cup glory in Qatar provides those who have followed Alli’s career closely with a tangible representation of how far the 26-year-old has fallen down the pecking order in his home country.
Alli starred for Gareth Southgate’s side in Russia, featuring in five of the Three Lions’ seven games at the tournament as they reached the semi-finals.
The former Spurs star also scored once, against Sweden in the quarter-finals, but has not represented his country since the third-place play-off of the 2019 UEFA Nations League finals.
Alli was starring for Gareth Southgate’s England side at the Russia World Cup four years ago
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