Lampard denies Dele Alli was ‘short-term’ signing amid rumours of summer sale

Everton manager Frank Lampard believes he can get the best out of Dele Alli next season despite reports that the Toffees are willing to sell.

The forward arrived from Tottenham on transfer deadline day in January – the same day Lampard was confirmed as Rafael Benitez’s successor – but has made just 10 substitute appearances for the Premier League club.

Lampard alluded to some issues which have contributed to just 264 minutes playing time for the 26-year-old, but arguably, his most valuable spell came as a half-time introduction in the 3-2 win over Crystal Palace which secured their top-flight status.

Alli has struggled for a number of seasons to recreate his best form but Lampard is confident he can pull more performances like Thursday’s 45-minute cameo.

How the Premier League table would look if season started when Lampard took over at Everton

Tottenham are due to receive a small bonus if Alli completes ten matches for the Merseyside club and would reportedly land £10m if he plays 20 times, but there were reports this week that he will be sold before those clauses kick in.

“To be fair to Dele, in the last two or three weeks he has trained well,” said Lampard.

“I can see in his face he is disappointed sometimes that he is not playing. I am not silly to that.

“But I know his qualities, I saw them and that is why I brought him to the club. People will question why he has not had so much game time.

“There are reasons behind the scenes for that but when it came to the moment, it was a desperate moment for us at half-time and my feeling with Dele is that, because of the levels he has reached in his career so far, he can handle these situations in a game like this, because he has played in the Champions League, he has played