Northern Touch Soccer

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has revealed the club are close to agreeing a deal to sign Lacina Traore from Monaco on a loan deal until the end of the season, with the club hoping to be granted a work permit for the Ivory Coast international. Traore only joined Monaco from Anzhi Makhachkala at the beginning of January, but is set to move to the Premier League in order to gain experience.

Everton has been enjoying a successful league campaign so far as they are on the top 5 spots of the Premier League even ahead of teams like Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The head coach Roberto Martinez wants to keep the momentum and positive results rolling on with new arrivals.

The club is already linked with the winger of Spartak Moscow Aiden McGeady who has had problems and feuds with the Russian club and now is uncertain if he will be finishing his time with Spartak when the contract expires in the summer or if he makes a move away from the club in January.

Everton defender Leighton Baines has not given up hope of being fit enough to play some part in the hectic festive schedule.

The 29-year-old former Wigan Athletic left-back has been sidelined since last month’s 3-3 draw with Liverpool when he broke a toe.

At the time, Everton boss Roberto Martinez predicted that he would be without Baines’ services for six weeks but the player has targeted an earlier return to action.

Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has been an ever present for the club this season. He has started in all the Premier league matches, while also helping the club move closer to the top four.

It has been a great start for Everton under Roberto Martinez, as they are sixth in the table after nine matches in the season. They have lost just one match this season, and Barkley has been an integral part of everything good that by the club so far. Due to the constant football, there is a danger of Barkley suffering from tiredness in the second half of the campaign.

The Portuguese tactician Jose Mourinho accomplished a colossal task when he led Porto to European success by winning the Champions League and the league cup in the same year back in 2003.

This attracted the attention of media everywhere in the world but especially by Chelsea which finished in him signing for the English club and becoming one of the highest paid managers in football with a salary of £4.2 million each year.

One of the main challenges for new Everton manager Roberto Martinez is to retain star players like Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini, who have been linked with a move away from the club in recent months. Manchester United came in with an official offer for Baines a few months ago, but they have since not increased their offer.

The initial bid of around £ 12 million was instantly rejected by Everton. It has been reported that the Merseyside club will be looking at selling the 28-year-old defender if United come in with an offer of around £ 18 million, which is yet to materialise.

Despite being a target of Manchester United, defender Leighton Baines has said that he is very much looking forward to working with the Everton manager Roberto Martinez.

The Spaniard was appointed as the replacement for David Moyes, who left for United at the end of last season. Martinez comes on the back of the relegation with Wigan, but he also helped the club lift the FA Cup last season. Even though Moyes was at Everton for more than a decade, he failed to win any major trophy with the club.

Rumours have intensified in recent months that Everton manager David Moyes could leave the club at the end of the season after growing frustrated due to the financial situation.

The Scot has been in talks with Everton over the last few months to sign a new deal, but he has postponed all the talks until the summer. There is also a lot of pressure on the chairman, Bill Kenwright, in order to sort of the future of the manager. The 67-year-old, though, has said that he is prepared to wait on the decision of the Scot, who has been at the club for more than 10 years.

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Carlos Tevez was the captain of Manchester City when City had won the FA Cup in 2011. Tevez is not the City skipper any more, but, he is still a vital member of the squad. The Argentinean striker was talking to the reporters ahead of City’s fifth round FA Cup match against Leeds United which is going to be played at Etihad Stadium.

When asked how much this competition matters for the club, Tevez said, “This is a very important competition and the whole team is determined to win it. We had won this competition in 2011 and we want to repeat that in this season.”