Following the dismissal of Rafa Benítez from Everton in the wake of their defeat at the hands of Norwich City on Saturday, his compatriot Roberto Martínez is being tipped for a return to Goodison Park, despite being unceremoniously shown the door by Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri in 2016.
Currently in charge of Belgium and with a World Cup looming on the horizon, it remains unclear why Martinez would be willing to swap the job of managing genuine contenders for sifting through the pile of smouldering rubble Rafa has left behind him at Goodison Park but the Mirror reports that Everton have already opened talks with the Belgiam FA in a bid to buy their target out of his contract.
Derby County boss and one-time Everton hero Wayne Rooney is also being considered for the vacancy, while Moshiri is also known to be a huge admirer of José Mourinho, whose days at Roma look numbered. While Everton fans are likely to be underwhelmed by the prospect of either Martínez or Mourinho rocking up at Goodison Park, the arrival of Rooney, who is doing a terrific job at Derby County under extremely difficult circumstances, might meet with their approval. In the interim, a Big Dunc and Leighton Baines dream team seems likely to take the reins until a permanent appointment is made.
Another week, another raft of speculation linking Newcastle with players of sufficient quality to make a decent fist of keeping the world’s most monied club in the Premier League. They want Donny van de Beek but Manchester United’s lesser spotted midfielder is reported to be unenthused by the prospect of signing for a club in their lowly position.
Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Keylor Navas is the latest big name star to inch his way across the Mags’ radar but his particular Middle Eastern employers have no desire to let him go. Progress has been reported in Eddie Howe’s bid to lure Sevilla central defender Diego Carlos to St James’ Park, but Newcastle have had a £33m bid for Monaco’s 20-year-old defender Benoît Badiashile rejected by the Ligue 1 club.
In need of a left-back now that Ben Chilwell has been ruled out for the rest of the season, Chelsea are reported to be “in talks” to sign PSG’s Layvin Kurzawa on loan and have also been linked with Ivan Perisic, the Croatia veteran who has been playing left wing-back for Internazionale this season and only has six months left on his contract.
Manchester United are open to offers of around £15m for Phil Jones, who could find a new home at Burnley or – you’ve guessed it – Newcastle. The injury-prone defender was the best of a bad United bunch on his only appearance of the season against Wolves earlier this month but has long been surplus to requirements at Old Trafford. Having lost Chris Wood to Newcastle last week, Burnley could offer Andy Carroll an unlikely Premier League return after the striker’s short-term deal with Reading ended at the weekend.
And finally, Arsenal’s attempts to bring Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo to the Emirates remain a work in progress but have something of a snag. Juve have decided they want Thomas Partey in exchange. That cackling sound you can hear is Mikel Arteta laughing at their impertinence.
