Dele Alli benched by Besiktas on Christmas Day, days after being subbed off in the 29th minute
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Dele Alli spent Christmas Day on the substitutes' bench for Besiktas, just days after being hauled off in the 29th minute.
Alli made the move to Turkey in the summer, leaving Everton on a season-long loan.
It was another move in which the former England international hoped could reignite his once-promising career.
However, the last few days have been very telling as to the current state of Alli's career.
Whereas at one time Alli was considered one of the best young players in the Premier League, his decline from those heady days at Tottenham has been stark.
Despite it being Christmas Day, the Turkish Super Lig featured as one of the only leagues in Europe to continue, as Alli was an unused sub in Besiktas' 1-1 draw against Gaziantep FK.
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This came just days after he was substituted and booed off the pitch in only the 29th minute, with his side trailing 2-0 to a third-division team.
It was a clear reminder of Alli's continued fall from grace since his breakthrough at Spurs, where he won back-to-back PFA Young Player of the Year awards, as well as earning consecutive appearances in the Premier League Team of the Year.
This season has seen him feature only nine times for the Turkish side, where he's only scored twice so far, with Sporting director Ceyhun Kazanci recently claiming no-one has the answer to helping him get back on track.
Last summer, he made the move to Everton, with the move to play under Frank Lampard seen as another potential route to helping revamp his career, but his two goals and one assist across 21 appearances did little to convince anyone that he was the same player, and he was quickly ushered out of the club on loan to Turkey.
The 26-year-old's best two seasons were, of course, the 2015/16 & 2016/17 seasons in which Spurs pushed both Leicester City and Chelsea close to the title under Mauricio Pochettino.
Across those two seasons in the league, he managed 28 goals and 18 assists and established himself as one of the best performers in the league, but that version of Alli seems a distant memory now.
It's also a real shame from an England standpoint, as he was a key player during the 2018 World Cup and there's no doubt Alli in his prime would have fit seamlessly into England's younger-looking side under Gareth Southgate.
Will we ever see Alli regain that form that made him one of the most exciting talents in Europe? His recent form and career trajectory suggest not.
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Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Football, Dele Alli, Besiktas, Turkish Super Lig
