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Carlo Ancelotti confirmed he will meet with the club’s board after Sunday’s FA Cup clash against Liverpool to discuss potential transfers.
The Toffees have been linked with a host of players in the upcoming transfer window but Ancelotti admits he has been surprised by the quality of the squad already at his disposal.
When asked about those transfer rumours at his news conference ahead of the New Year’s Day clash with Manchester City, Ancelotti said:
“The market is not open yet. There are a lot of rumours, that is normal. It is the same in Italy. After the 5th of January I will talk with the club to see if we can improve the squad.”
There was also some positive news on the injury front, with no fresh issues from Saturday’s clash against Newcastle:
“(Morgan) Schneiderlin will start to train with the team today and should be available for Sunday. We haven’t had any problems in the last two days which is good. Andre Gomes and JP Gbamin need time to recovery but everything is going well with them. I hope they can recover soon.”
With two wins from two, Ancelotti can be hugely satisfied with the work he had done so far. However, the Italian insists he has only had time to make minor changes given the packed schedule and instead praise the impact of caretaker boss Duncan Ferguson.
“I was surprised by the spirit of the team. The work that Duncan [Ferguson] did was really good because he increased the spirit.
”I have found players with character and good attitude. I haven’t changed a lot of things. We also haven’t had time to change a lot of things.
”Defensively we have changed a little bit. Offensively, the style, we have changed a little bit.””[In this period] it can be dangerous to change a lot.”
As well as adapting to life back in the Premier league, Ancelotti has also been familiarising himself with his new city.
The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Napoli boss has been spotted walking around Liverpool city centre and meeting supporters.
The 60-year-old says he had enjoyed meeting the fans and wants to live as normal life as possible away from the dugout.
”I like to live a normal life, so I like to go to restaurants, to meet people. I had some selfies with the supporters, it is normal. I am a manager but I want to live a normal life. I don’t want to be in my house or Finch Farm 24 hours a day.”