Former Premier League star Paul Robinson has made a stunning prediction over the future of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. The Senegal international has been linked with a Premier League move over the past few seasons but a deal has never materialised with the Naples hierarchy reluctant to sanction his sale.
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has said that the Toffees can realistically eye a Europa League spot for next season following their upturn in Premier League over the past couple of months. The Merseyside outfit were languishing in the relegation places when Marco Silva was sacked from the helm but they have since been on a steady rise and are now within eight points off fourth-placed Chelsea.
Speaking in a press conference, Ancelotti accepted that a Champions League spot could be out of the club’s reach, considering there are a number of quality sides between them and the Blues. However, he added that the club can realistically look to qualify for next season’s Europa League with possibly a sixth or seventh-place finish to the campaign.
Continue ReadingFormer Napoli defender Andrea Dossena has sent a warning to manager Carlo Ancelotti ahead of his proposed move to Everton. The Italian was recently axed from the head coach position at Napoli but it appears that he could make a quick return to management with Everton in the Premier League.
Speaking on Tutto Mercato, the former Liverpool man said that Ancelotti is taking a huge risk by joining the Toffees, who are currently lying nearer to the drop zone than to the top half of the table. He added that the 60-year-old has a tough task on his hands to get the most out of the players at the club, he told: “It’s a very risky choice. He goes running to take on a team that are going through a very difficult time. He will have to work hard every day to get the most out of the players he has.”
Continue ReadingEverton left-back Lucas Digne is hopeful that his form with the Toffees will earn him a spot with the France national side for next summer’s European Championship finals. The Frenchman failed to make the squad for the 2018 World Cup as he was a bit-part player for Barcelona but he has transformed his fortunes since joining the Toffees last year.
Digne has been the undisputed left-back choice on the left side of the defence for the Toffees for the best part of 14 months and this has aided his comeback to the national team. In a press conference, Digne said that he is pleased to have won the Player of the Season award with the Toffees last term and he is hoping to produce the same level of consistency this year.
Continue ReadingManchester City manager Pep Guardiola has praised the performance of Riyad Mahrez following the club’s 3-1 league triumph over Everton on the road. The Citizens had a tough test of their title credentials against the Toffees but Mahrez scored a vital free-kick in the 71st minute which provided them with the key advantage in the contest.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola said that the African Cup of Nations provided plenty of confidence for Mahrez, considering Algeria went all the way to win the trophy. He added to praise the attacker’s mentality and said that he has something special after delivering when the Citizens needed him the most.
Continue ReadingFormer Everton star Joseph Yobo has said that the Toffees are the perfect club for Alex Iwobi, who is looking to find the consistency with his performances. The Nigeria international had spent his entire career with Arsenal but he made the surprise move to Goodison Park before the Premier League transfer deadline last month.
Iwobi has since made three appearances for the Toffees and he has scored on a couple of occasions.Yobo believes that the Merseyside outfit will provide his compatriot with the perfect platform to become a great player.He told BBC Sport: “Everton is the perfect club for a brave player like Alex Iwobi and I know it’s the right step to becoming a great player. The manager [Marco Silva] is building an amazing team and he believes so much in Alex to add him to his squad. Already he has started well by scoring two headed goals and it’s just the beginning of bigger things to come.”
Iwobi made impressive progress under the guidance of Gunners boss Unai Emery last season and he managed to contribute a career-high tally of six goals and eight assists from 51 appearances. Despite this, he had regularly been the subject of criticism from the Gunners supporters, given he could have fared much better with more composure within the box.
At Goodison Park, the Nigerian won’t come under the same level of pressure and expectation and he has certainly grabbed the fans’ attention during the opening weeks of the new season. Everton are currently on seven points after the opening four league matches and this sees them behind the top four on only goal difference. Following the international break, the Toffees are set to face Bournemouth at home and manager Marco Silva will be hoping for a second league triumph on the bounce.
Former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce has said that Richarlison must improve on his performances to command a regular starting role with Everton. The Brazil international had an impressive debut season with the Toffees last term where he contributed 14 goals across all competitions.
Despite this, he has not made a fruitful start to the current campaign with a couple of average performances and one of those came against Watford over the weekend where he was substituted at the hour mark. Speaking after the game, Allardyce said that Richarlison has gone through periods of non-action on the playing field and manager Marco Silva was right to substitute the attacker.
He added that Richarlison needs to improve with the bigger challenge at the Toffees, who are aiming to make the push for the European places, he continued: “He has these spells of non-action or non-impact. Marco Silva’s not happy and I agree, he should demand more. When your spending so much on a player and you’re improving his wages, as a manger you say ‘you must start playing so much better than you used to’. ‘This football club has bought you to make us better and you must improve’.”
Richarlison had three attempts on goal against his former club and two of those were headed attempts, where he should have tested the goalkeeper at the least. Irrespective of this, the Toffees were on the winning side over the weekend after Bernard scored the only goal for the Hornets through a 10th-minute strike.
With the victory, the Merseyside outfit have registered four points from the opening two games and this sees them ninth on the league table. They are scheduled to face Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bournemouth and Sheffield United over the next four gameweeks and a strong run could potentially see them break into the top four.
Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson has said that the Toffees wanted to keep Ademola Lookman but they could not do so as the attacker was determined to secure gametime elsewhere. The England youth international was barely offered a regular starting role under Marco Silva last term and this has eventually seen him part ways with the side to join RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
In a report covered by Goal.com, Sigurdsson said: “He is a very good player. Hopefully got a very bright future ahead of him. He is very talented. He probably felt he was that stage where he wanted to play. Of course it is difficult – the club probably wanted to keep him because of his ability but it is a good deal for the club and everyone here wishes him the best.”
Lookman had an impressive loan stint with Leipzig during the backend of the 2017/18 campaign where he contributed five goals and three assists from just 11 matches. He was thereafter linked with a permanent move to the German giants last summer, but the deal did not go through with Silva wanting the youngster to stay put with the Toffees.
However, the 2018/19 season did not go as planned with the restricted gametime and he ended the campaign with just three league starts. At Leipzig, Lookman has now been offered with another chance to redeem himself and hopefully, he can find the purple patch from the previous stint such that he can knock the doors of the national team.
Meanwhile, the Toffees have made good business for the attacker with around £22m recouped from the sale and it remains to be seen whether they can make the best use of the money gained. Of late, the club have been linked with a £60m swoop for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha whereby Cenk Tosun could be used as a makeweight.
The agent of Yerry Mina has said that he has no idea regarding the speculation of the defender leaving Everton this summer. The Colombia international joined the Toffees from Barcelona last summer but he happened to struggle with multiple niggles which restricted him to just 15 appearances for the club across all competitions.
Everton forward Richarlison has said that he has talked the prospect of compatriot David Neres joining him at the Toffees next season. The Brazilian winger has come through a promising season with Ajax where he contributed 11 goals and two assists and this has caught the eye of some of Europe’s top sides.
