Dele Alli future: Jose Mourinho believes that Dele Alli will be a Tottenham player when the transfer window shuts on Oct. 5.

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Alli, 24, was subbed off at half time of Spurs’ opening weekend defeat to Everton and didn’t feature in the 5-2 win at Southampton on Sunday.

With Dele Alli reported to be wanted by both Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in recent days, the arrival of Gareth Bale and potentially another forward player could push the England playmaker further down the pecking order.

“I believe [he will]. I can even say that I’m convinced that he will be,” Mourinho told our partners in the UK at Sky Sports when ask about the Dele Alli future reports.

Ahead of Spurs’ UEFA Europa League third round qualifier on Thursday at Macedonian club Shkendija, Mourinho revealed that Alli will be in the squad for that game.

“We all know since Dele arrived from MK Dons he had ups and downs, he had fabulous periods and he also had other periods where he disappeared from top-level performances. And with me it’s no different than before. He’s had moments where he was so good, but he also had moments where he was not so good,” Mourinho said.

“I think this lack of consistency, it’s normal that when you are in great form you play because you deserve it and your production is big for the team, but when you are not in a good moment you don’t play – and it’s as simple as that. The players have to prove on the pitch with their performances; they have to prove how good they are in that specific moment.”

Mourinho added that “performance are important” and Dele Alli is the same as every other player. So, essentially, Mourinho wants him to step it up. During the Nextflix documentary ‘All or Nothing’ Mourinho called Dele Alli lazy.

That led to many believing that Dele Alli was surplus to requirements at Spurs and although he has also been left out of the most recent England squad, Mourinho clearly believes in his quality. For now, it is best if he stays at Tottenham but it would not be a shock if he leaves in January after a few months as a bit-part player.

Dele Alli is a mercurial talent and Mauricio Pochettino did his best to fit him into a system and style of play while also allowing him to express himself. Is Mourinho going to do the latter? Probably not. And therein lies the problem.

Even if he stays at Spurs for now, expect ‘Dele Alli future’ to be a term you see trending on Twitter during upcoming transfer windows.

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