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We have literally one day left in the January transfer window, and what could be the highest profile move involving Tottenham Hotspur... may not happen. In the latest update in the Dude, You’re Getting a Dele saga, Fabrizio Romano has pretty much told everyone to hit the brakes on this happening unless there’s a major breakthrough in the return of Christian Eriksen from Inter Milan.
And that doesn’t seem very likely now.
Dele Alli-PSG deal is not progressing. Tottenham were looking for Eriksen as replacement but Inter won’t sell him now.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 31, 2021
Alli deal is almost ‘ready to be completed’ on loan but #thfc are not intentioned to sell him without any replacement. Really complicated. #psg #spurs
The Eriksen-In-Dele-Out plan was always the most likely scenario, and Daniel Levy is on record saying that he didn’t want to let Dele go without another player coming in to replace him. You can argue with that position, especially in lieu of a hypothetical loan of Dele to PSG with no purchase option, but there it is. Levy clearly doesn’t want to weaken the squad so long as they remain in four competitions, even if the player he’s ostensibly replacing is barely getting minutes anyway.
Now sure, it’s possible that things could change. There could be a breakthrough in Eriksen negotiations, or a new van der Vaart-esque name could pop up out of nowhere at the very last minute. That’s happened before! Deadline day is crazy! But the way this window has gone thus far I wouldn’t bet on it.
Fabrizio Romano is about as trustworthy a name as you can get in transfer rumor circles. No here-we-go, no go. If I had to put my money where my mouth is, I’d say that Dele’s going to remain a (unhappy, marginalized, benched) Tottenham Hotspur player until at least the end of the season.