Dele Alli joins Cesc Fabregas’ Como after Everton exit

Dele Alli is hoping to revive his career in Italy, with Serie A club Como, after announcing his departure from Everton.

The former England international will join up with Cesc Fàbregas’s side on Boxing Day to begin training.

If he can prove his fitness, Alli will then sign a permanent contract by mid-January.

Como’s sporting director Carlalberto Ludi told Italy’s TMW Radio station: “We need a few weeks, including time to get to know each other then we’ll make the best decision. A percentage? It’s too early to say. We’ll go through a period of mutual understanding but Fàbregas likes him a lot.”

It is understood that Alli is enthused about working with Fàbregas, Como’s head coach, and believes that Italy will provide the right environment to restart his career.

He is finally fit again, but at this stage of his career, the more technical and less physically demanding Serie A will probably suit him better than the Premier League.

Alli released a statement confirming he is leaving Everton where “things haven’t worked out as we all would have hoped” and referred to his “new path” being “widely published this week”. Alli was in the crowd for Como’s win over Roma last Sunday with questions then being asked over his future.

The 28-year-old has been a free agent after his Everton contract ran out in July but he continued to train with the club as part of his rehabilitation from a long-term thigh problem.

Everton were keen to re-sign him if he was fit enough and would have allowed him to continue training with them this season.

There were talks over a one-year contract at Everton but that was dependent on Alli returning to first-team training after a difficult few years in which he also spent six weeks in rehab last year as he dealt with childhood trauma and a dependence on sleeping pills.

But it has been decided that a clean break and a fresh challenge is the best option.

Unfortunately, Alli has not played a competitive match since February 2023, during an unsuccessful loan spell with Besiktas. His last game for Everton came in August 2022 but he is hugely appreciative of the support the club has given him.

In a social media post, Alli thanked Everton but said it was time to “turn a new page.”

Alli joined Everton from Tottenham Hotspur in January 2022, on the same day as Frank Lampard was appointed manager, and made 13 appearances in all competitions.

Lampard’s successor, Sean Dyche, said on Friday: “The major point that we agreed, as a collective, was to get him back to a good place and I think he is there.

“He’s had so much misfortune with injuries. The medical team worked tirelessly, as he has. Onto a new challenge [for him], but we certainly wish him well.”