Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that midfielder Dele Alli has played his way back into contention at the club.
Dele has played just four times in the Premier League, racking up just 74 minutes in total, and his regular omission from the matchday squad has prompted rumours that the midfielder could leave the club this summer.
Paris Saint-Germain are rumoured to be keen, with former boss Mauricio Pochettino eyeing a reunion with Dele, but Mourinho confirmed after Sunday's 5-0 win over Marine that the 24-year-old is on the way to earning a spot back in the team.
"He was here today and of course it was not the match to measure the quality," Mourinho said (via MailOnline Sport) when asked whether Dele had earned a spot in the squad for Spurs' next game against Aston Villa. "But the professionalism and attitude and I am very happy with it.
"I will not be surprised if next Wednesday Dele is playing with us. I am really happy with his attitude in the game. Of course we didn't want to risk much, the pitch is a bit dangerous and their enthusiasm can put the creative ones in some risk.
"But I am happy - good professionalism, good dynamic from him and Gedson [Fernandes] to start trying to create, so really pleased for the performance."
However, there's a small problem for both Mourinho and Dele - nobody actually knows whether the Villa game will be going ahead.
The entirety of the Villa first team were recently forced to self-isolate after an outbreak of COVID-19 at the club, forcing the Villans to deploy a team made up entirely of academy players in their FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.
It's currently unclear whether the Premier League will postpone the game or ask those same academy players to play once again, but Mourinho insisted that he will prepare for the game until told otherwise.
"Yeah [I think the game will go ahead]," he added. "Nobody told me that I'm not going to play so we start to prepare for that game, and the same Tuesday unless somebody tells us different."
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Source : 90min