It has been quite the Friday afternoon for Everton who have been preparing for their final pre-season friendly on Saturday.
Sean Dyche‘s side have a game at Goodison Park to look forward to on Saturday against Roma in what is their last run out before their opener against Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Everton players trained ahead of the game against the Serie A outfit on Friday at their stadium as the preparations really begin to ramp up.
Shortly after the training session, there was some huge news to emerge surrounding the club’s takeover situatuon.
John Textor has now submitted a new bid to take over at Everton following the collapse of The Friedkin Groups withdrawal last month.
But there was also some positive news to come out of the training session on Merseyside.
Despite the uncertainties going on behind the scenes regarding the takeover latest, Everton have still operated well in the transfer market.
Kevin Thelwell has worked his magic and the four signings brought in looks like positive additions.
Two of them have already gotten their names on the scoresheet on their debuts in Jesper Lindstrom and Jake O’Brien.
Following the training session at Goodison on Friday afternoon, there was even more good news to emerge regarding a player who was already at the club ahead of the summer.
“The big news would appear to be that Dele is back in full training with the squad,” said journalist Matt Jones.
“As it stands, the midfielder is still out of contract, although the Blues were seemingly open to extending his stay after talks with Tottenham Hotspur.”
It appeared Tottenham and Everton were coming to a conclusion over their agreement for Dele to be handed a new deal at Goodison.
But nothing seems to have come from that with the midfielder not playing in the pre-season games as he continues to work on his fitness, seemingly.
With the new campaign just a week away there are still a lot of uncertainties hanging over the future of Dele.
As things stand, Everton could do with another midfielder having recently sold Amadou Onana, however, Dele is hardly a like for like replacement for the Belgian.
And it is believed Everton are looking to strike a deal for Kalvin Phillips this summer.
Everton youngster Harrison Armstrong has been impressing higher-ups at the club in pre-season – so much so that he could earn another opportunity against Roma this weekend.
As reported by Liverpool Echo (7 August), Armstrong has been an impressive presence in the squad this summer. At the age of just 17, he’s giving off the vibe of a young player who is ready for the next step up.
The Liverpudlian, who is a box-to-box central midfielder, is calm, confident and composed on the ball. Plus, he even managed to get on the scoresheet in Everton’s 6-0 win over Motherwell on Tuesday.
It begs the question of whether Dyche should give him another opportunity to face Roma.
Armstrong has been at Goodison Park since the age of five. In that time he’s made rapid progress through the under-18s and under-21s, and now, he’s training with the first-team squad.
Some may call that desperation from the club in the wake of problems off the pitch. Alas, we tend to think it’s the opposite. We believe Sean Dyche understands that in the midst of such uncertainty with the takeover and transfers, what you need is players who are willing to give everything for the crest.
In Armstrong, he has that. Yes, there are valid concerns about forwards like Calvert-Lewin and Beto – but a fresh, young midfield maestro could inject real life into this team.
We aren’t suggesting that he’s going to start from day one. What we do believe, though, is that he should be given a chance to prove himself against Roma on Saturday.
It would mark a step up in quality in terms of the teams he has in pre-season already and it would offer more of a club as to whether he could be ready to play a part in Sean Dyche’s squad in the Premier League this season.
In an age where academy products are earning big money for PSR reasons, the benefits could be twofold. Firstly, he could turn out to be a great asset to Dyche’s squad. But moreover, he could help with the balance sheets – much like the sales of Ellis Simms, Tom Cannon, Lewis Dobbin and even Anthony Gordon have.
It just makes perfect sense for Dyche to test the waters with midfield gem this weekend.
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