James McCarthy Newcastle move: the Magpies have reportedly expressed an interest in signing Republic of Ireland and Everton midfielder James McCarthy.
Teesside publication The Northern Echo is claiming that Magpies boss Rafael Benitez has his eye on McCarthy to compete with Jonjo Shelvey and Isaac Hayden for a spot in Newcastle's midfield.
And it reports that with Morgan Schneiderlin moving to Everton from Man United in January - along with former Wolfsburg player Anton Donkor - McCarthy "has been persuaded that a fresh start could reignite his career" and will go out on loan somewhere for the remainder of the season (with Crystal Palace also said to be sniffing around the 26-year-old).
A move to St James' Park would see McCarthy link up with Republic of Ireland team-mates Rob Elliot, Ciaran Clark and Daryl Murphy.
McCarthy has been struggling at the Toffees this year, racking up just eight appearances in all competitions. He hasn't been helped by some bad luck on the injuries front, nor by the fact that he once more found himself the subject of negative attention off the pitch. Before Christmas McCarthy was at the centre of a row between club and country managers, with Ronald Koeman insisting that McCarthy was "not fit" to be included in the Irish squad for the World Cup qualifier against Austria and Martin O'Neill then criticising Koeman for "bleating".
McCarthy - who at the time had been struggling with a hamstring injury - was put in a difficult position, and one gets the impression that choosing to travel with the Irish squad rather than doing his club manager's bidding didn't do him any favours with Koeman.
Either way, he'd be a fine acquisition for Newcastle (who currently lie second in the Championship) and, with the crucial World Cup qualifier against Wales in March, more match time can only be good for both himself and Ireland.
(Northern Echo)
