It appears no matter how much Everton manager Ronald Koeman says that he likes Republic of Ireland midfielder James McCarthy, the chatter about a transfer to Newcastle United just never goes away.
Over the weekend, Koeman came out once again in defence of his oft-injured player, saying -
“He will stay (at home for these Ireland games). He spoke to the manager and they took the decision he will not go to the national team.
“In my opinion that is a really good decision he needs to recover and get ready for pre-season.
“Of course I want to keep McCarthy because all the times he was really fit and on his level most of the time he was a starting player.
“But it was really difficult because he had a lot of injuries and that makes it difficult for him and the manager also.”
Koeman has had a number of spats with the coaching staff of the Irish team, Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane, over their apparent mishandling of McCarthy’s injury situation this season.
However, barely a day later, the British tabloids were at it again, claiming that the Blues had set a £20m price tag for the midfielder. The report went on to say the Daily Mail were claiming the Toon are keen on pairing up McCarthy with Fulham's Tom Cairney. Manager Rafa Benitez has apparently been handed a £100m transfer budget as he attempts to keep the newly-promoted side up this coming season.
Koeman has previously expressed how highly he values the Irishman, with new owner Farhad Moshiri making a special note of how he insisted that McCarthy be kept during the tumultuous final hours of last summer’s transfer window.
With all the injuries he has suffered and his apparently poor judgement about his personal fitness levels, there are plenty of Everton fans who would be happy to see McCarthy sold this summer especially if indeed Newcastle or even West Ham United and Crystal Palace come in with a solid £20m offer or better.