Terms are agreed for Dele, and the deal is a bit complicated

Pending a failed medical, Dele Alli is off to Merseyside to join Everton. The terms of the deal are starting to come out and they make slightly more sense now that they’re laid out.

Fabrizio Romano, who I’m convinced doesn’t sleep during any transfer window, is confirming the deal and how this is happening.

Everton are in the worst position in the Premier League when it comes to Financial Fair Play. To make matters worse, they’re maxed out on loans and couldn’t just take a six month deal with an obligation or option to purchase in the summer. There’s also reports that they’re broke like just about every other club out there.

Spurs were willing to make this deal work, so it seems they’ve taken the hit now and allowing this as a free transfer with a required fee of £10m when Dele hits twenty matches played for the Toffees. We have no idea what the escalators are but in a deal like this, there are probably a couple of easy ones to hit and then some loftier goals, but that’s pure conjecture on my part.

Four years ago, Dele was valued at £100m by Daniel Levy. For this to be the deal that Spurs are accepting to move him on tells the tale of a midfielder who fell off a cliff and couldn’t climb back up. I do hope he finds his form again and Everton hope the same, given there’s an outside chance they could be relegated.

All that’s left here is the official announcement from the clubs and for all of us to be sad that Dele is no longer at Tottenham Hotspur.