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There is no shortage of names being linked with the Everton manager job even while it sounds like Sam Allardyce will somehow retain the position for the upcoming season. With a new candidate being mentioned almost every day, now The Times (paywall) are reporting that Porto manager Sérgio Conceição is also being looked at by the Toffees.
Conceição led Porto to the Liga NOS title over the weekend at the first time of asking, having just joined the Portuguese club last summer from Nantes. One of the biggest clubs in the nation, Porto had fallen on lean times with this being their first league title in four years. The former winger, who made 56 international appearances for the Portugal side, had little to work with following financial restrictions imposed by UEFA who found the club to have violated Financial Fair Play regulations.
Porto currently have 85 points and with one game remaining this coming weekend, could break their previous highest points total of 86 from 2003 under Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese record is 88 points, set in 2015-16 by Benfica under Rui Vitória who has also been briefly linked with the Everton job in the past.
The article goes on to report that the 43-year-old is currently making £1.7million a year, and the Blues have offered to double that sum as well as pay off the release clause to free him from his contract which has a year left to run.
Allardyce has continued to receive criticism around the club over his style of play, which has allowed Everton to make it back up the Premier League table to 8th place, but appears to be the ceiling for his limited nous and basic tactical abilities. The Everton Board will be looking for the club to break into the top six following majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri pumping in millions into the club, improving existing facilities, going ahead with plans for a new stadium and offering a transfer kitty the likes of which has never been seen on the Blue half of Merseyside before.
Another former Moshiri favourite Marco Silva appears to be receding into the horizon following his sacking from Watford FC while Paulo Fonseca of Shakhtar Donetsk appears to be holding out for the Arsenal vacancy that was announced recently with Arsene Wenger choosing to leave the Emirates at the end of this season.