Dele Alli’s performances for Turkish side Besiktas have once again been criticised by coach Senol Gunes, after the on-loan midfielder suffered a humiliating snub last night.
Dele was left on the bench for Besiktas’ last-16 Turkish Cup tie against Ankaragucu, which the Istanbul side lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw at full-time.
Speaking to the media after the game, Besiktas manager Senol Gunes admitted that the on-loan Everton player has not earned a place in his team.
“Dele Alli has had a good career, but he doesn’t deserve to play at the moment,” Gunes said, in the latest of a series of scathing reviews for the former England international.
Indeed, in November last year Dele’s commitment was called into question by Gunes, insisting that the once-promising playmaker was not meeting the standards that were expected of him.
“I couldn’t affect the players” Gunes stated.
“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.”
The former Spurs man also suffered an embarrassing first-half substitution just last month, leaving the field after 28 minutes to a chorus of boos from the Besiktas fans in a Turkish Cup clash against third division side Sanliurfaspor.
Dele’s time in Istanbul has gone from bad to worse and a second opportunity for him to resurrect his stalled career has been squandered.
His January 2022 switch to Goodison Park afforded the 26-year-old a chance to re-establish himself in a side crying out for a player with his creative awareness, though his brief time on Merseyside didn’t work out and Frank Lampard decided to offload him in the summer transfer window.
For a player of such obvious ability, it is extremely frustrating to see it wasted, especially with the Toffees in dire need of a creative midfielder, however Dele’s once promising career appears to be all but over in his mid-twenties.