Carlo Ancelotti has played down rumours of a January swoop for Dele Alli but says he has a 'lot of respect' for the Tottenham Hotspur forward.
The Everton boss has been linked with showing interest in the 'fantastic' 24-year-old ahead of the window reopening next month but has moved to cool talk of an approach.
Alli has been frozen out of Spurs' league team by manager Jose Mourinho having been left out of the squad for their last six matches.
The England international has made six of his eight appearances this season in the Europa League but was only used as a late substitute in Thursday night's 3-3 draw against LASK, scoring a penalty.
Ancelotti, however, says there is no truth in talk of a move for the out-of-favour Spurs game next month.
"No, it's not true," he said, when asked about the reported interest.
"It's not true. We didn't talk about Dele Alli.
"Personally I have a lot of respect for him because he is a fantastic player.
"But, as I say, he is a Tottenham player and I don't like to talk about this."
