Everton news and transfers recap - James Rodriguez exit claim, Christian Eriksen race, Octavian Popescu talks,

Richards: Everton would be biggest club ever to be relegated from the Premier League

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards believes Everton would be 'the biggest club ever to drop out of the Premier League.'

The Blues remain in a battle to preserve their top-flight status, though are running out of time to turn their season around as we edge closer to the climax of the campaign.

Few could have predicted Everton would find themselves in this position before a ball had been kicked in 2021/22, and Richards has spoken of how the current situation compares to the time he fell out of the top-flight with Aston Vila during the 2015/16 season.

Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, he said: "In December last year, I wrote here about Everton, the amount of money they had spent — more than £500million in five years — and couldn't fathom how they were in such a mess.

"I concluded they wouldn't go down but now I cannot be optimistic about their prospects. Much, of course, can — and will — happen in the next six games but the predicament they are in has similarities to the one that befell Aston Villa.

"When you look at their squad, you see names such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, England's No 1 in Jordan Pickford, and established internationals such as Yerry Mina, Allan and Fabian Delph.

"Your gut instinct would be to say: 'Relegation? No way!' But reputations mean nothing when you are at the bottom and the more they analyse things, the more they will appreciate how serious it is.

"You'll hear players say they don't look at the table but don't believe it… they will be looking at it three times a day."

Everton could be intrigued by Foden style winger despite '€150m' Real Madrid and Barcelona transfer claim

Octavian Popescu is the latest name to be linked with a potential transfer to Everton but what sort of attributes could he offer? It’s probably fair to say that many Blues aren’t yet overly-familiar with the Romanian starlet and the rumour comes with an air of intrigue.

HITC cites Digi Sport as reporting that Everton have opened talks with the 19-year-old winger but Gigi Becali, the owner of Popescu’s club FCSB (formerly Steaua Bucharest who won the European Cup in 1986 in the season that Howard Kendall’s champions were denied their place by a post-Heysel ban on English teams) is talking tough by slapping a supposed €150million price tag on his prize asset’s head while former Romanian international Ioan And one has told the same outlet that the wonderkid is talented enough to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona.

A similarity comparison by Comparisonator calculates that West Ham United’s Algerian international Said Benrahma is the closest current Premier League player in terms of style to Popescu with a match of 68% ahead of Crystal Palace’s Ghanaian ace Jordan Ayew on 52% but the youngster’s statistics playing in his homeland this season making intriguing reading when placed alongside what stars are doing in the English top flight. When it comes to expected assists, Popescu’s figure of 0.43 per game would place him third among left wingers (81% of his outings have been in this position with 12% as a central attacking midfielder and 5% on the right wing) for expected assists behind just Manchester City’s Jack Grealish (0.48) and Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso (who records an identical figure to Popescu of 0.43).

Chris Beesley has the full story, here.

James Rodriguez 'wants to leave' Al-Rayyan

Former Everton midfielder James Rodriguez reportedly 'wants to leave' current club Al-Rayyan in favour of a return to Europe.

The Colombian left Everton back in September to sign for the Qatari side, having fallen out of favour at Goodison Park following the arrival of Rafa Benitez.

Rodriguez has made 14 appearances this season for Al-Rayyan, though has 'communicated his desire to leave the club' as he plots a return to Europe.

That's according to Colombian journalist Pipe Sierra, who has claimed the 30-year-old is willing to take a salary reduction in order to make this happen.

Arsenal ticket allocation confirmed

Ticket details for Everton's final away fixture of the Premier League season have been confirmed.

The Blues have received an allocation of 3,003 tickets, priced as follows: Adult: £30, 65+: £16, Under 19: £16, Under 17: £10. Everton have also confirmed 25 pairs of wheelchair bays will be available.

For any concessionary ticket purchased, proof of age will be required on entry into the Emirates.

Tickets will go on sale in the following order of priority:

21/22 STH with 21+ credits from the 21/22 season from Tuesday 3 May at 10am
21/22 STH with 17+ credits from the 21/22 season from Tuesday 3 May at 2pm
21/22 STH with 13+ credits from the 21/22 season from Wednesday 4 May at 10am
*21/22 STH with 9+ credits from the 21/22 season from Wednesday 4 May at 2pm

*All tickets are subject to availability.

Frank Lampard compares Everton youngster to Chelsea's Mason Mount

Frank Lampard has refuted suggestions that Anthony Gordon goes down too easily after the Everton youngster went to ground twice in the Liverpool penalty area but was denied a spot-kick on both occasions, being shown the yellow card for simulation after the first incident.

Lampard declared straight after the game at Anfield that he felt the second claim would have been given if it had been a challenge on Mohamed Salah at the other end and Everton wrote to the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the group responsible for improving refereeing standards) to ask why they weren’t awarded a penalty.

Asked if he thought that Gordon goes down too easily, the Blues boss said: “I don’t think that’s the case, I think Anthony’s booking was the first of his senior career for simulation, someone will check me on that maybe but I know that’s what I’ve been told.

Chris Beesley has the full story, here.

Everton launch search for two key roles after big 'strategic review' decision

Everton have launched a search for two key roles within the club's set up. The club is looking to appoint a director of its academy and an Under-23s head coach, the recruitment process being led by director of football Kevin Thelwell. The hunt follows the departure of David Unsworth earlier this month.

Unsworth held the roles of both academy director and U23s manager, so the club's move to effectively separate those responsibilities signals a shift in approach to the oversight of the youth programme.

That move is a direct result of a strategic review undertaken by the club's board. Launched at the back end of last year, the review has focused on the football side of the club with the ambition of identifying lessons that could be learned from recent years. The decision to appoint Frank Lampard after the departure of Rafa Benitez was one of several influenced by the work of the review, with Everton officials looking towards building a long-term strategy in the hope of laying the foundations for progress.

Part of that vision is to make more of the club's youth programme by developing talent and creating a clear pathway to the first team squad. It has already included Kevin Nicholson’s appointment as coach educator at Everton’s Academy. Dan Purdy also returned as manager of scouting and operations in March.

Joe Thomas has the full story, here.

Reports claim Allan 'will leave' Everton this summer

Everton midfielder Allan “will leave” the club this summer, according to reports.

The Brazilian has been consistently linked with a move away in recent months, often related to a possible reunion with his former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri at Lazio.

However, Sport Witness has relayed reports in Italy suggesting that the chances of Allan signing for the Serie A club are “looking slim”.

It is claimed that this is because of his “prohibitory” wages at the Blues, despite having just over a year left on his current contract, with Lazio now considering to “look elsewhere” for midfield reinforcements.

Everton 'in talks' to sign Octavian Popescu

Everton are reportedly “in talks” to sign Romanian starlet Octavian Popescu.

The 19-year-old plays for FCSB in Liga 1, previously known as Steaua Bucharest, and has scored nine goals and provided four assists in all competitions this season.

HITC reports that Everton have opened talks to sign the winger, though it is also said that Popescu is valued by FCSB owner Gigi Becali at somewhere in the region of £125m.

Everton handed Christian Eriksen 'blow'

Everton have reportedly “suffered a blow” in their hopes of signing Christian Eriksen.

The Danish midfielder joined Brentford on a short-term deal until the end of the season in January and has been impressive since signing for the Bees.

Inside Futbol reports that the Blues are in the “chase” to sign Eriksen, alongside Newcastle United, with the 30-year-old set to become a free agent.

However, it is suggested that Eriksen wishes to stay in London next season, with his former side Tottenham said to be “interested”, though the midfielder is “yet to decide” where his future will lie.

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