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Mourinho expects ‘troubled’ Dele Alli to stay

Jose Mourinho has expressed his belief that Dele Alli will stay at Tottenham amid rumours of a possible move to Paris Saint-Germain and confirmed the midfielder’s inclusion in his latest Europa League squad.

England international Alli has not featured since he was substituted at half-time of Spurs’ Premier League opener at home to Everton, which ended in a 1-0 defeat.

Alli, who scored nine goals in 38 games in all competitions last season, did not even make the bench for subsequent victories over Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Southampton.

The 24-year-old’s future has appeared uncertain as links to Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain emerged while Mourinho offered no assurances.

Spurs will soon welcome Gareth Bale into the group as he recovers from injury following his return to the club from Madrid, but Alli first has an opportunity to impress in a Europa League qualifier against Shkendija in North Macedonia on Thursday.

“Dele Alli will make the trip,” Mourinho told a news conference ahead of the third qualifying round match. “I always said that Dele will have a chance. He’s coming.

“He’ll have a chance to perform and it’s important that he does. It’s important that every player does.”

read also:PSG chiefs confident Spurs outcast Dele Alli wants move

The Portuguese head coach refused to be drawn on whether Alli will be included in his latest starting line-up, before urging him to make the most of whatever playing time he is granted.

“If he is on the pitch for one minute or 90 minutes, he has to show us what he can do. Pure and simple.” said Mourinho.

Mourinho does not expect Alli to leave amid reports that PSG are preparing to launch a formal offer for the playmaker, but insists it is up to him to knuckle down and improve.

“I see him staying,” the Spurs manager added. “There is a tendency now, when a player performs or doesn’t perform, to give responsibility to the coach because they gave him the right stick or didn’t. I always feel that 99 per cent of the responsibility is the player. I, and the staff who work with the player, have one per cent.

“Something we all know [is that] since Dele arrived from MK Dons he had ups and downs: fabulous periods and other periods where he disappeared from the top-level performances. Under me, it was not different than before: moments where he was so good, moments where he was not so good.

“This lack of consistency, when it happens in a player, the normal situation when you have other good players in similar positions, it’s normal that when you’re in great form you play, when you’re not in a good moment you don’t play. It’s as simple as that.”

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