Your morning Everton headlines for Monday July 11.
Frank Lampard might just have been handed an unexpected Everton boost
Everton's plans for the Premier League winter break have started to take shape following confirmation the club will travel to Australia.
The Blues are set to play two fixtures in the Sydney Super Cup as they head Down Under for the first time since 2010. The tour is part of what will be a fascinating period as domestic football halts for the winter World Cup in Qatar.
The Australian tour plans, the final World Cup qualifiers and the opening weeks of the summer transfer window have all provided further insight into what Blues fans can expect during the six week break.
READ MORE: Everton version of 'Yellow Wall' takes shape at new stadium to form city's biggest single tier stand
READ MORE: Giant midfielder could be Frank Lampard's Marouane Fellaini as Everton need to take transfer chance
Everton's final game before the Premier League season halts is an away trip to Bournemouth on Saturday, November 12. The tie with Celtic in the 83,500 capacity Accor Stadium in Sydney will take place on the eve of the World Cup, on November 20. The tournament then starts on November 21 with four games, including England's match with Iran.
Everton's game with Western Sydney Wanderers then falls on November 23 - the same day as World Cup games involving Belgium, Croatia, Spain and Germany. A number of fan events are also due to take place while the Blues are in Australia.
On Thursday, Frank Lampard said he would look to take a strong side on the tour, explaining: "We are really looking forward to travelling to Australia later this year. The winter World Cup has provided us with this opportunity to visit an amazing country and play against really strong opposition. We’ve also got a lot of passionate Evertonians in Australia and we can’t wait to catch up with them. Other than the players on duty at the World Cup, we will be taking our strongest possible squad. This promises to be a very worthwhile tour on every level, and we are delighted to be making the trip.”
Read the full story here.
Frank Lampard left waiting as Everton continue trend under Farhad Moshiri
Everton manager Frank Lampard is eager to get another fresh face in as soon as possible as he looks to replace Richarlison. But while the Blues could bank up to £60million from Tottenham Hotspur for the Brazilian, they’re still yet to spend anything themselves this summer with fans left wondering how long the wait will be.
So far, James Tarkowski, a free agent after his contract at Burnley expired, is the only new arrival. But as the ECHO revealed back on June 15, his deal was agreed several weeks ago.
A truncated preparation period for the 2022/23 Premier League campaign due to a first ever winter World Cup in Qatar has made Lampard particularly keen to snap up a new recruit as he looks to reshape an Everton squad who recorded the joint lowest equivalent points total in the club’s history last season (shared with 2003/04) –despite it widely being reported that they had the largest wage bill in the top flight outside of the ‘big six.’ Spending among Premier League clubs so far this window has already topped the half a billion pound mark – the equivalent of the cost of the Blues’ new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock – but Goodison Park chiefs are yet to release the purse strings.
Everton are back in action against Premier League opposition in less than a week when they take on Arsenal in a high-profile friendly match at NFL side Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium next Saturday (12 midnight going into Sunday UK time). They then complete their US tour against Major League Soccer outfit Minnesota United, managed by Blues legend Adrian Heath, at their Allianz Field home the following Wednesday (1am Thursday in the UK). Lampard had wanted to get a new signing in to work with his team at Finch Farm before the team jet out to the States today (July 11) but, at the time of writing, that looked unlikely as Jesse Lingard – one of the targets he was understood to be considering to replace Richarlison – has already crossed the Atlantic to “entertain pitches” from MLS suitors.
Read the full story here.
READ NEXT
-
Everton midfielder handed new contract after 16 months of injury hell
-
New Jordan Pickford contract revives memories of bold Everton move to stop transfer
-
Ten behind the scenes photos from Everton training match at Finch Farm
-
Michael Keane makes James Tarkowski Everton transfer admission
-
Everton free to spend in transfer market as Premier League dialogue continues
