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Dele Alli has not gone AWOL from Besiktas

Dele Alli has not gone AWOL from Besiktas - PA/Peter Byrne
Dele Alli has not gone AWOL from Besiktas - PA/Peter Byrne

Dele Alli has not gone AWOL at Besiktas as has been claimed by the Turkish club’s outspoken coach Senol Gunes.

The midfielder is in London after Besiktas agreed to allow him to attend a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. Alli has email confirmation from the club giving him permission after they were informed earlier this week.

There is shock that Gunes has therefore now publicly claimed Alli is not answering phone calls and Besiktas cannot get hold of him. It appears to amount to scaremongering and is hotly disputed.

Gunes sarcastically suggested Alli - who was allowed some time off from training during the international break - may not have returned to the club “because it's raining” and said he “hoped he didn't have an accident”.

“Dele Alli could not come at this time. It's raining, I guess that's why he couldn't come,” Gunes, who insists Alli should have returned to Turkey by now and was only allowed a “small break”, said. “We're trying to hear from him. We could not reach you by phone. Hopefully he didn't have an accident.”

There is shock at Gunes’ alarmist words not least because Alli returned to England with Besiktas’s blessing after being excluded from the squad that played Istanbulspor, their last game. He is expected to fly back to Istanbul and report for training on Thursday.

Alli later posted on Instagram. "Hey guys just had loads of messages so wanted to clear something up," he said. "The club gave me permission to attend a doctor's appointment today. I'm due back in training tomorrow as normal."

Gunes has already banished the 26-year-old from the first-team squad and suggested he will not play for Besiktas again this season and now appears to be acting vindictively to force him out.

The midfielder is on loan at Besiktas, who have already said they will not take up the option to sign him permanently, and as things stand is due to return to Everton at the end of this season. He has one more year left on his contract after joining from Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer in January 2022. Alli’s career has come under intense scrutiny in recent seasons.

It is understood that Gunes has told Alli, who has played just 254 minutes in 2023, he can leave Besiktas now if he wants to – the only league he could potentially go to would appear to be the MLS - but the player wants to fight for his place and hopefully see out his loan spell. He has made just a handful of appearances under Gunes and not featured at all in the last three league games.

Alli’s move to Everton was supposed to represent a fresh start for the England international whose career has stalled after bursting on the scene at Tottenham and being a star of the 2018 World Cup campaign. He failed to score a goal or provide an assist in 13 appearances under now former coach Frank Lampard and moved to Turkey in another attempt to revive his career.