DELE ALLI and Jose Mourinho held crunch talks to pave the way for the out-of-favour star’s return to the Tottenham first team.
Mourinho revealed he had a meeting with the playmaker on Tuesday night to check on his welfare and the pair thrashed out their differences.
Dele Alli could be in line for a return to first team football under Mourinho
Alli could now be in line for a first-team return, having not started a Premier League game since the season opener.
Mourinho insists he is still on good terms with outcast Alli despite his relegation in the Spurs pecking order and the midfielder’s failed move to PSG.
Mourinho said: “He needs to recover from his injury, he needs to be back to training and he needs to have a fresh start because in the last few weeks he couldn’t even train. So that’s the most important thing.
“I had a good conversation with him yesterday, we spoke about this and I think we found a very common ground.
“It is an important period of the season for the team and for him also. We need him. We need a good Dele Alli and we are just waiting for him to be back to normality, to training with the team.
“It is not just Dele, there is also Kane and Giovani Lo Celso – we are speaking about players that without all three we miss a little bit of some creative magic around the attacking areas.
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Alli has made just four Premier League apperances for Spurs this term
“So we need him back and I made that very sure to him. A conversation doesn’t make miracles, a conversation doesn’t put a player in great form or without any limitations in terms of fitness. But I believe the conversation was maybe the extra motivation he needed to be back as soon as possible and to become available for the team.
“We play Europa League very soon and we are in the Premier League every week playing a couple of matches. We are also in the FA Cup next week but I don’t think he will be in time for that one.
“We have a final to play in April so we need a good Dele back.
“When physically he is ready, I believe he will mentally be in a good place to go for it.”
Alli was reportedly dismayed with the loan move to PSG failed to materialise.
With injuries to Kane and Lo Celso and the lack of a replacement available, Tottenham would have been left short of options had he gone.
It scuppered Alli’s hope to be reunited with former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, who oversaw his development into one of the Premier League’s brightest stars.
And while Alli is unlikely to play in Thursday’s huge London derby against rivals Chelsea, Mourinho wants him back in the first-team fold sooner rather than later.
Amazon’s fly-on-the-wall documentary of Tottenham’s 2019-20 season laid bare the difficult relationship between Mourinho and Alli.
Mourinho slammed his player as ‘f***ing lazy’ during a team meeting, while complaining of his application in training in a separate clip.
Now it seems any rift will be swept under the carpet to pave the way for Alli’s return from the sidelines.
Dele Alli’s PSG transfer ‘hinges on Tottenham signing last-minute replacement’ despite midfielder’s exile
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
