Jose Mourinho has explained why he substituted Dele Alli at half time in Tottenham's 1-0 defeat to Everton last weekend.
With the game still goalless at the break, Mourinho took the decision to withdraw Alli for Moussa Sissoko, but the move did not pay off as Everton went on to claim three points thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin's second half goal.
Alli's career at Tottenham has stagnated in recent years despite an outstanding start in north London under Mauricio Pochettino, with his disappointing performances in recent seasons leading to Gareth Southgate dropping him from the England set-up.
The former MK Dons midfielder initially found form when Mourinho first took over at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Sunday's decision to withdraw one of his best players raised eyebrows.
"The change at half-time was not the first time I've done that in my career," Mourinho told reporters ahead of Spurs' Europa League qualifier against Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
"I did that with Eric Dier against Olympiacos. When I do these things I always do it for the team.
"In some cases the option was choosing right, in others it was proven wrong.
"In this case it didn't work and the team wasn't better in the second half. That's my job to make decisions.
"There is no story. There is no cases."
The Daily Telegraph have since claimed that Tottenham are considering sending Alli to Real Madrid as part of a deal to bring Gareth Bale back to north London.
All parties are hopeful that a deal can be tied up for the move, with Tottenham looking for a loan deal while picking up a chunk of his huge wages, reported to be around £600,000-a-week before tax.
Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett told BBC Wales on Tuesday: "Gareth still loves Spurs. We are talking [Spurs, Real and Bale's camp]. It's where he wants to be."
He then told AFP on Wednesday morning: "It's close but not done. It's a complicated deal."
