Alli needs PSG more than PSG need Alli

One of January’s longest transfer stories is the one concerning Dele Alli’s possible Tottenham Hotspur exit. Paris Saint-Germain is being mentioned as the Englishman’s possible destination for weeks, but it’s still to happen. Will he or won’t he? If it were only up to him, he’d be at Parc des Princes already.

Paris have a strong squad and plenty of options in the final third. They’ve got Neymar, Di Maria, Mbappé, Icardi, Kean, Sarabia and Draxler so why would they move for the Englishman? The only reason they would possibly want Alli is the fact that their new coach Mauricio Pochettino is a big fan, having worked with Alli at Tottenham. This is why a loan move is still on the cards for the cast-away English international. Speaking about Alli a couple of months before taking up the PSG job, Pochettino heaped praise on the Englishman.

“Dele was an amazing player for us with his hunger, the energy and the aggression. He was always on the edge of the line, so you needed to help him and tell him to be careful and take one step back. He’s still young, but I think we enjoyed a lot together, with all the team. We built a very special relationship with all the team.”

European Championship is getting nearer and Dele is desperate to be a part of England setup when the tournament begins on 11 June 2021. His chances of making the squad are looking slim already because he has hardly kicked a ball in anger all season. If he doesn’t find a club where he’d play regularly, it’s difficult to see how he’d make the cut.

Parc des Princes is Dele's desired destination (©Reuters)

Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a dramatic drop in revenue for PSG. Combined with Mediapro’s collapse that’s left clubs in France with virtually no television money coming in and the persistent pressure of meeting UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations, the French champions are urged to sell rather than buy players. It’s not that they don’t have the money, of course – they just can’t spend it.

In this climate, it’s difficult to offload an expensive player without taking a huge financial hit in the process. And Paris squad is full of such players, so their options of actually selling a player are seriously limited. One player who looked like he may be leaving the French capital was Leandro Paredes. The Argentine midfielder was a transfer target for Inter, with the Nerazzurri boss Antonio Conte an admirer of the ex-Roma star. However, Paredes was buoyed by the arrival of his compatriot Pochettino and is now prepared to stay in France and fight for a place in the starting eleven.

Various mutually-conditioned deals involving Inter, Spurs and PSG have been mentioned in the media recently. There's been talk of transfers that are conditioned by other possible moves involving Inter’s Christian Eriksen, Paris’ reported interest in Lionel Messi etc, but all those moves failed to materialise. Time is ticking away for Dele Ali to secure a move away from Jose Mourinho, who seems determined to keep the 37-times England international out of his team. Will he or won’t he?