Jose Mourinho is hoping Dele Alli can make a telling contribution to Tottenham now speculation around his future has stopped.

Alli was keen on a January loan move to Paris St Germain having been frozen out by boss Mourinho in the first half of the season, but Spurs blocked an exit.

The narrative immediately changed after the transfer window closed, with Mourinho saying he was ready to reintegrate the 24-year-old back into his squad when he had recovered from a tendon injury having found “common ground” in a meeting.

That has now happened and he could be on the bench for the FA Cup fifth-round tie at Everton on Wednesday night.

Asked what has changed to see Alli return to Mourinho’s thinking, the Portuguese said: “Nothing changed. He’s not injured, he can train with the team.

“He went through a process of not training and trained with the sports science people and then jumped to team-work which he did on Monday for the first time.

“Nothing changed, what maybe changed is the speculation around him because in this moment everybody knows that he’s a Tottenham player and he doesn’t go to any place. So probably the end of the speculation and will be end the questions.

“He can train and he can try to help the team because this is what we want. It’s what we need. We need players to help the team.

“Hopefully he can do that. In normal situation he wouldn’t even be considered for Everton but with the injuries we have with so many matches we have, maybe we have to accelerate his process and maybe we can.

“But of course I want him to be fully on board and to agree and depends on his feelings. But if he can be on the bench (on Wednesday) and to come for 10 or 15 minutes to help the team that would be good for us.”