Elated Dele Alli buzzes with teammates in pre-season training as he ramps up pre-play preparations

Dele Alli was photographed during Everton training yesterday buzzing alongside his teammates as they walked together towards the Finch Farm training ground.

The midfielder, who returned from a season-long loan spell at Besiktas this summer, looks set to step up his preparations to play for the Merseyside side this year.

And it also looks like he could be seen as part of Sean Dyche’s plans for the upcoming season, with the Toffees also giving him back the number 20 shirt, which was notably his favorite number when he played for Tottenham.

Alli joined Besiktas on loan in the summer of 2023, making just 15 appearances for the Turkish side before returning to Everton.

Earlier this summer, he also appeared in a powerful interview on Gary Neville’s show The Overlap, addressing some of the difficulties he’s faced throughout his life, while also expressing his desire to get back to his best on the field.

And it looks like he is ramping up preparations to return to first-team football with the Toffees, having trained on his own earlier this summer.

Yesterday, he was spotted posing for a photo at Finch Farm alongside teammates Alex Iwobi and Ashley Young, smiling and giving a thumbs up as the trio made their way to the training grounds.

The England international also trained alongside Sean Dyche, who seemed equally cheerful and patted Alli on the back as he took part in the training session.

He joined Everton on a deadline day in 2022 on a permanent deal that will see Everton pay Tottenham £10 million once he has played 20 games.

After making just 13 appearances for the Toffees, Alli is taking his old No. 20 jersey from Neal Maupay, who will wear the No. 13 jersey next season.

On his arrival at Goodison Park, he wore the number 36 shirt before switching to number 20, which is his favorite number in particular.

He is not the only player to switch numbers at Everton this summer, with James Tarkowski switching to take the number 6 shirt, previously worn by David Unsworth, Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka and Allan.

Meanwhile, Nathan Patterson will switch his number 3 jersey to take over Tarkowski’s number 2 jersey, which has also been worn by Tony Hibbert, Mason Holgate and Jonjoe Kenny.