Everton have found something of a silver lining after coming up short in their pursuit of Moussa Sissoko on transfer deadline day - they still have James McCarthy.
Just 24 short hours ago, it seemed that Newcastle's French international midfielder would be winging his way to the blue half of Merseyside (quite literally, incidentally - Everton chartered a private jet for him and he never showed up to the airport) to join up with Ronald Koeman's charges.
Then Tottenham came calling and the rest, as they say, is history.
Has #EFC investor Farhad Moshiri REALLY said this?!? https://t.co/1MogCaN9JY
— Everton FC News (@LivEchoEFC) September 1, 2016
Obviously smarting from failing to land their man, Everton's majority shareholder bizarrely released a statement today to essentially say that they never really wanted Sissoko in the first place.
In a note released to Sky Sports, majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri said:
Sissoko is a great player. But when I bought into Everton, I made it clear I was proud to join a family. And we don’t turn our backs on our own. Keeping James McCarthy was a priority and ultimately, we could not proceed with a deal that would jeopardize his place at Everton. We wish Sissoko the best.
So let's get this straight: Everton were interested in signing the "great" Moussa Sissoko but then they realised that they didn't want/need him because they have James McCarthy already on the books.
There are so many unanswered questions here. Why did they even pursue Sissoko in the first place if they didn't actually think that they needed him. Did they forget entirely about Sissoko until someone reminded Koeman of that Irish bloke with the Scottish accent?
To be serious for a moment, from an Irish football point of view this is the best case scenario. We need our players competing at the highest level and this could be the kick in the behind that McCarthy needs to help him rediscover his form of a couple of seasons ago.
