Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli possibly distracted by transfer speculation, admits Jose Mourinho

Dele Alli has not played for Tottenham since the FA Cup win over Marine
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Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP10 February 2021

Jose Mourinho admits Dele Alli may have been distracted by speculation linking him away from Tottenham last month but is impatient to move on from discussions about the midfielder's future.

Alli is expected to feature in tonight's FA Cup tie at Everton for the first time since the third-round win over eighth-tier Marine on January 10, with Mourinho hoping he will be fit enough for the bench after returning from a calf problem.

Spurs refused to allow Alli to join Paris Saint-Germain on loan in January, despite his desire for the move, and Mourinho's rhetoric has changed since the close of the transfer window, with the manager last week opening the door for the 24-year-old to return to the first-team picture.

Mourinho insists "nothing has changed" with Alli, except his return to fitness following a niggling tendon problem, but admitted he may have been distracted by the speculation.

"There's nothing to speak about anymore," Mourinho told Standard Sport when asked about Dele's focus. "It's possible that he was distracted, yeah.

"It depends on the player's mentality, how much the player is influenced by and follows the media and social media. I don't know in his personal case.

"But I was expecting that this story is over. Now it's about him working to be back in the team, to have minutes."

Alli last started in the Premier League on the opening day of the season against tonight's opponents but Mourinho hopes to give him "10 or 15 minutes" from the bench in the fifth-round tie at Goodison Park.

A positive cameo would increase his chances of inclusion in Saturday's League game against runaway leaders Manchester City and Mourinho again called on Alli to prove he is worthy of more opportunities.

"When you are on the pitch, you have to show how good you are and how much you deserve to play. It's very simple," Mourinho said.

"So in this moment, everything is normal with him. He's fit, he's training. Probably he is selected tonight and on the bench and plays. If not, he'll be working to improve his condition."

Spurs are still without Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon (hamstring), while Matt Doherty is expected to deputise at right-back for Serge Aurier, who was forced off through injury in Sunday's win over West Brom.

Doherty has struggled since joining Spurs for £15million from Wolves in the summer and Mourinho selected midfielder Moussa Sissoko ahead of him for the recent defeat to Brighton.

Asked about the Republic of Ireland international, Mourinho said: "I was speaking just now about Pierre [Emile-Hojbjerg], who is an example of a guy who arrived and immediately looks like a guy who was here his whole life and immediately making an impact.

"But not every player does that. Sometimes it's a little more difficult. But we believe in [Matt], he believes in us.

"And we spoke about that a few days ago. He feels it was a great decision to move here, he's very happy to be here and admits he's much better than what he's showing. Confidence is very important and I believe that he'll only improve. He's a player that we trust."

Mourinho revealed Eric Dier was also suffering from a lack of confidence following high-profile mistakes against Liverpool and Chelsea but backed the centre-half to return to form.

"A guy that loves it here, a guy that is loved by the team-mates, a guy that I trust, a guy that I consider one of the ones," he said of Dier. "And he will be back to normality and his normality of course is to play and be solid."

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