Besiktas fans greeted imminent signing Dele Alli with a spectacular reception as the English midfielder nears a move to Turkey.
Dele will undergo a medical with the Super Lig side today before completing his transfer. Currently, he will leave Everton on a season-long loan. However, Besiktas will have the option to buy Dele Alli for a fee in the region of £8 million, per Fabrizio Romano on Twitter.
They will be able to do this in either January 2023, or at the end of the loan in June 2023.
Frank Lampard has allowed the England international to leave Goodison Park, despite his excitement at getting the player in January.
Why is Dele leaving Everton?
On January transfer deadline day, Everton announced the signing of Dele Alli on an initial free transfer that could reach a fee of up to £40 million. The first £10 million would come after Dele reaches 20 appearances for the Toffees. The rest of the fee was then related to player and team-related performance targets.
However, Dele has struggled to settle into the Everton first team. In the last half of the 2021/22 season, the midfielder made just 11 appearances for Everton. Only one of those was as a starter, too.
He has also featured twice for the Toffees this season, taking his total appearances for the Merseyside club to 13. To make matters worse, the attacking player is yet to register a goal contribution for the side.
Therefore, Frank Lampard is looking to offload his out-of-favour star before he reaches the 20-game mark for the club. In doing so, the Everton boss saves his side from paying Spurs the first £10 million of his fee.
Additionally, Sky Sports claim that Dele is desperate for game time, seeing as minutes are scarce in this Everton side. So, following interest from abroad, the former two-time PFA Young Player of the Year is set for a change of scenery.
And it appears that his likely next club, Besiktas, are very happy to have landed the ex-Spurs midfielder.
Dele Alli receives brilliant welcome from Besiktas fans
The Besiktas fans came out in force to welcome Dele Alli to their club. As he landed in Istanbul ahead of his medical, thousands of supporters waited at the airport for his arrival.
Impressively, the devoted crowd had waited through the night for the Englishman, who arrived in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Fans of the Turkish giants then handed their imminent signing a club scarf, plus a bunch of flowers. The midfielder also got involved in a chant with the gathered supporters. Following this, Dele briefly spoke to the adoring crowd before heading to the club facilities for his medical.
Hopefully, a change of scenery will allow Dele Alli to re-capture the form that earned him so many plaudits whilst at Spurs.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
