Jose Mourinho: Not up to me whether Dele Alli is sold in January

[ASFN Admin]

Jose Mourinho claims it will not be up to him whether or not Dele Alli stays at Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window. Alli is expected to start in Thursday night’s Europa League game against LASK with both Harry Kane and Carlos Vinicius out injured. But while Mourinho is confident that Kane will return from injury to face Arsenal in the north London derby on Sunday, Alli has not been part of Tottenham’s Premier League squads. Alli has played just 21 minutes of Premier League football, as a substitute against Manchester United in October, after being taken off at half-time in the opening-day defeat to Everton. With the Europa League soon to pause for more than two months between the group and knockout stages, Alli must soon decide whether or not to ask for a move to be sure of more regular football. Daniel Levy rejected three approaches from Paris Saint-Germain to take Alli on loan in the summer transfer window and Mourinho confirmed it will once again be the Tottenham chairman who decides the 24-year-old’s future. “One thing is me understanding the players, another thing is the players’ situation,” said Mourinho. “I don’t make decisions about selling a, b or c, or letting d, e or f go on loan. “I am responsible for the players that belong to my squad and are working with me. The ones that are not playing enough time in their minds, in their ambitions, they have only one thing to do, which is to use the time they play to show me they are better than the ones having more minutes. There is no secret to that. “I don’t have any problem with Dele. I don’t have any problems with anyone. I’m really happy I don’t have personal issues with any of my players. Players are happier when they play. They’re not happy when they don’t play and I don’t blame them. That’s just the way it is. The concept that wins above everything is the concept that the team is more important than any one of us.” Kane missed training on Wednesday and will not be part of the Spurs squad to face LASK, but Mourinho is confident that he will be available for Sunday’s north London derby. “I’m not going to tell you the nature of his injury,” said Mourinho. “I think there’s a good chance [to play against Arsenal]. I don’t want to lie in relation to is he going to play or not. I think he’s going to play. That’s my feeling.” Toby Alderweireld could return from injury in time to face Arsenal, with Mourinho adding: “He has a chance. Not for Thursday, he’s not ready, not even an option. But in his recovery he is doing very well and there is a chance he plays but Joe [Rodon] played against Chelsea and it was not an easy first match, and Davinson Sanchez will play on Thursday. So we have options. If Toby cannot play, we will not cry and there will be a chance for another one.”

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