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Report: Wayne Rooney agrees to three-year D.C. deal

By Joe Prince-WrightJun 12, 2018, 8:00 AM EDT
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Wayne Rooney continues to edge closer to completing his move to D.C. United in Major League Soccer, as the Everton forward is said to have been told he’s not needed by new Toffees boss Marco Silva.

Rooney, 32, flew out to D.C. last month to tour the club and he has been in talks with the MLS side about arriving in early July when the transfer window re-opens in North America’s top-flight.

A report from the Daily Mirror in the UK claims that Rooney is “furious” after “being told he is not in Marco Silva’s plans.”

Per the report, Rooney doesn’t seem to keen on a move to MLS but it appears he will be nothing more than a bit-part player under Silva, who was officially unveiled on June 4. During his opening press conference Silva, along with new director of football Marcel Brands, spoke about Rooney’s move to DCU almost being completed but that they would sit down with him and let him decide what he wants to do.

It appears that talk didn’t go the way Rooney wanted it to…

With Rooney’s return to his boyhood club set to last for just one season after his glittering, record-breaking career with Manchester United and England, there is an air of disappointment within the blue half of Merseyside as to how this has played out.

Rooney can still hold his head high after leading Everton’s scoring charts (11 goals in all competitions) in a troubled 2017/18 campaign which initially saw them battling relegation with Ronald Koeman fired, then Sam Allardyce moving them into midtable but defensive tactics cost Big Sam his job at the end of the season.

Silva is known to prefer young, speedy attackers and Rooney isn’t that, and he hasn’t been that for quite some time. He could still score and contribute from a deeper position but it appears he won’t get that chance at Everton.

Now he’s on his way to MLS.

Transfer rumor roundup: Simon to Liverpool, Deulofeu to Watford

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By Nicholas MendolaJun 5, 2018, 8:47 PM EDT
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Saying the player has been “heavily scouted” as a backup to Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, The Liverpool Echo says Moses Simon could be the next Liverpool winger.

[ MORE: World Cup stadium guide ]

Simon, 22, is said to have a price tag of approximately $13.5 million following a six-goal, two-assist campaign for Gent in Belgium. He did not make the Nigeria roster for the World Cup with a hip injury, but has 17 caps with three goals.

It’ll cost just a couple million less for Watford to acquire the services of Gerard Deulofeu from Barcelona.

The ex-Everton winger, 24, went on loan to the Vicarage Road set in January, scoring a goal in seven league appearances for the Hornets.

Now he may be set for a permanent $11.5 million move, according to Sport.

The other Emmanuel Boateng — and that would only be said on this side of the Atlantic — is thinking big.

The 22-year-old Levante man has said he’s not long for La Liga, sending a message in a bottle to Old Trafford and the Camp Nou.

Speaking recently at a 442gh event, Boateng said: “I always dream big, I see myself playing in one of the great clubs of the world in the next five years. Big clubs like Manchester United and Barcelona excite me.”

Also Ghanaian, this Emmanuel Boateng is two years younger than the diminutive LA Galaxy man. The Levante star scored six goals this La Liga season and has recently made his Ghana national team debut.

Everton confirm Rooney close to MLS move

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By Joe Prince-WrightJun 4, 2018, 9:24 AM EDT
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Everton’s new director of football and manager spoke to the media on Monday and Wayne Rooney was at the center of the questions.

[ MORE: 2018 World Cup news ] 

Director of football Marcel Brands and manager Marco Silva both confirmed that Rooney, 32, is in talks with D.C. United about moving to Major League Soccer.

Brands had the following to say when asked about the current status of Rooney’s reported move to MLS.

“There’s a possibility he will leave. He is talking with DC, that is not a secret,” Brands confirmed. “We will talk with him and if this is a move he wants to make in the next step of his career, like a lot of big, big players do and did in the past, to go to MLS, then I hope he will return when he’s finished there because he is still a legend in this club. I always hoped to do that in PSV and I always hope to do that here, to use the legends also in the future for the club.”

Everton’s new manager, Marco Silva, confirmed that talks about Rooney heading to DCU were already in place before he was appointed last week.

But Silva did leave the door open for the England, Everton and Manchester United legend to stay at Goodison Park if he wants to.

“Before we arrived this had already started, this deal with DC,” Silva said. “It’s something we expect. We will see the next few days. We will talk the next few days with Rooney because he’s a club legend. We need to understand everything. Like Marcel said, the door is open every time for him. We will talk with him and see everything that has happened up until this moment and then it’s Wayne’s decision.”

It seems like Rooney’s arrival in MLS is imminent but there is a small chance he may remain at Goodison given Silva’s comments about meeting with him in the next few days.

The saga rumbles on…

Everton appoint Marco Silva as manager

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By Joe Prince-WrightMay 31, 2018, 10:16 AM EDT
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Everton have confirmed the worst kept secret in soccer: Marco Silva is their new manager.

The Toffees released the news on Thursday, with the Portuguese coach arriving at Goodison Park after spells at Hull City and Watford in the Premier League.

Silva, 40, was wanted by Everton back in October when they fired former manager Ronald Koeman but his former club Watford didn’t allow him to leave and the Toffees instead appointed Sam Allardyce who led them to an eighth place finish in the table in 2017/18.

Speaking to Everton’s website about his arrival at the club, it’s clear that the former Sporting Lisbon, Olympiakos and Estoril boss matches the ambitions of Everton’s board and fans.

“I know what our fans expect – they expect results but not only results. I want our fans to be proud when they see our team on the pitch. I want them to feel that we are committed, that we are working hard and enjoying our football because that is important as well. We want to build a great connection between the squad and the fans, and I’m sure that with our attitude and demands of commitment then our style of play will see that, I believe. Everton is a really ambitious club and that is what I want. What we are seeing now are good changes at the Club. The Club is changing its approach. But one thing we cannot change and nobody wants to change is the huge history and ambition of the Club.

Silva’s star is still bright as he took charge of Hull City in the latter stages of the 2016/17 season and almost saved them from relegation with the Tigers playing fast-paced, attacking soccer.

He then joined Watford and after a bright start with the Hornets in 2017/18, Silva won just once in 11 games and he was sacked in February with the club citing Everton’s approach as a key reason for their dip in form.

Silva will work alongside Everton’s new Director of Football, Marcel Brands, who joined from PSV Eindhoven earlier this month and the latter believes Silva is a perfect fit for the style of play Everton want to develop.

“One of the most important things is that he’s a guy who wants to play attractive, attacking football and also wants to work in the structure we have at Everton,” Brands said. “He’s a guy who has proved already that he wants to work with young players, make them better and he has performed very well with the teams he’s worked with. He will be a very good manager for Everton.”

Together they will foster a counter-attacking style of play, built on a solid defensive foundation as Silva’s teams press high and look to get on the front foot and spring attacks whenever possible.

After the defensive style of play under Allardyce was lambasted for the past few months (it was a key factor in his departure earlier this month) Silva’s attacking philosophy will be music to the ears of Everton’s fans.

Revisiting PST’s preseason Premier League predictions

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By Nicholas MendolaMay 16, 2018, 5:16 PM EDT
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Back in August, we asked our staff to pick its 1-20 table and answer a bevy of roundtable questions.

[ MORE: Atleti wins Europa League ]

The crystal ball ain’t so crystal clear.

The table

— Five of six writers had Manchester City lifting the Premier League trophy, with Nick Mendola’s (me) audacious 90-point total the closest to City’s actual 100 points. Kyle Bonn picked Manchester United to win the league.

–Nick Mendola’s (me) equally audacious prediction that Burnley would finish 20th with 18 total points has had him apologizing on this page for months. Way to go, numbskull.

— No one called more than one relegated team correctly. Swansea had three people pick it for the drop, while I was the lone one to tab West Brom. JPW and Andy Edwards failed to name a single relegated team.

— Who had a team finishing the most spots higher than they did? JPW and Andy Edwards had 16th place Southampton finishing 8th. I had eventually relegated Stoke in 11th, while JPW had them 10th, and Andy Edwards had them 7th!

— Chelsea’s fifth place finish was a surprise to everyone; Only JPW had them finishing lower than second… in third.

— Surprised Arsenal finished in sixth? Kyle Bonn, Andy Edwards, and Matt Reed aren’t.

The roundtable

— We asked who’d go the further in the Champions League, and JPW was the only one to name Liverpool (although he hedged in a bit by saying the Reds and Man City).

— We asked who’d score the most league goals between Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane, Alvaro Morata, Alexandre Lacazette, or Sergio Aguero? Four correctly went with Kane, with Kyle Bonn wrong with Lukaku and this humble writer wrong with Lacazette.

— We asked which Premier League player would feel worst about his decision to leave his previous PL club, and we were all wrong (except perhaps JPW’s choice of Wayne Rooney, but that’s debatable). Dan Karell said Virgil Van Dijk, Matt Reed said Nemanja Matic, and I said Kyle Walker. All are probably quite happy with the manner of their seasons.

— We asked who’d fare better between manager Marco Silva, Frank De Boer, or Mauricio Pellegrino. They were all fired, though Silva’s departure was least his fault. So JPW wins again.

— We predicted who’d get fired first. The winner was Frank De Boer, but we all named men who’d get the sack. Craig Shakespeare (JPW), Paul Clement (me), Marco Silva (Matt Reed and Kyle Bonn), and Mark Hughes (Dan Karell).

— We asked which newly-promoted club will finish higher. Four of the five said Newcastle, with someone trying to hide his bias by saying Brighton.

— We asked who’d finish highest and lowest of this group: Southampton, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Leicester City.

Leicester finished highest and West Brom finished 20th. Dan and I correctly tabbed Leicester, while four of us correctly pegged the Baggies as the lowest.

— As for who would get promoted from the Championship, so far we’re 1/12. That could move to three if Dan and Kyle are correct in picking Fulham. Matt tabbed Cardiff City.