Everton FC News: EVERTON are bracing themselves for another transfer battle with Manchester City after Mikel Arteta emerged as a leading summer target for Roberto Mancini.
The City manager has placed Arteta high on his midfield shopping list as he strives to bolster his squad after missing out on Champions League qualification.
Arteta’s future has already been the subject of speculation this week with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reportedly considering the Spaniard as a replacement for Barcelona-bound Cesc Fabregas.
The player’s agent, Inaki Ibanez, responded to such rumours by yesterday stating Arteta was content at Everton and said: “He has a wife and child and is happy in the city.”
However, that is unlikely to deter City who, bankrolled by their billionaire Abu Dhabi owners, would tempt the Spaniard with a lucrative contract offer.
Everton have no intention of selling Arteta and have already opened negotiations with the 28-year-old over an improved deal with David Moyes keen to tie the core of his first team to long-term contracts.
Of course, Everton were involved in an protracted, acrimonious transfer saga with City last year over Joleon Lescott, who eventually departed after the start of the season for £22million.
And Moyes has warned anyone wanting to take any of his senior players would have to provide “a very big cheque” before Everton will even consider a sale.
“I am not bitter now about Joleon, but I don’t think anybody realised what it did to us,” he said. “It had a massive effect, but we got over it. It showed me that the team is bigger than any individual.
“Are we susceptible? Of course we are, because people look at us and think, ‘We can go to Everton and take their best players’.
“But if they do, they know they are going to have to come with a very big cheque. If they come here, they know it is going to be very expensive and our intention is not to let any of the players go. I expect them to be here next season.”
With Tim Cahill having this week signed a four-year deal, Seamus Coleman yesterday agreed to follow suit by becoming the latest player to commit his long-term future to Everton.
Coleman has agreed a deal which will keep him at Goodison until 2014, reward for an impressive campaign from the 21-year-old, who broke into the Everton first team before joining Blackpool on loan and helping the Seasiders into Saturday’s Coca-Cola Championship play-off final against Cardiff City.
Coleman, who arrived from Sligo Rovers last summer, made seven appearances for Moyes’s side during the season, including a man-of-the-match performance on his home debut in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in December.
The Republic of Ireland under-21 international moved to Blackpool on loan in March and has made 11 appearances in aiding the Tangerines’ charge to Wembley.
Moyes confirmed last week that Coleman would return to Goodison after the weekend and has now rewarded the youngster with a new deal.
“I think he’s someone who has caught the imagination of a lot of the supporters,” said the Everton manager. “You’ve got to remember this is a boy we’ve taken from Ireland, we’ve paid £60,000 for him, we’ve brought him in and he’s had very little of what I would call senior football. So we had to get him some games.
“He had a terrible injury in pre-season which kept him out and, if hadn’t been for that, he might have had more games and he might have even been further along. But I think these games for Blackpool, at the level they’re playing at, will do him no harm at all.”
