Everton striker Salomon Rondon has turned down a move to Sharjah FC.
The United Arab Emirates side have been pursuing their interest in the Venezuelan ahead of the closing of their transfer window. But the player has rejected the move and committed himself to doing the business when opportunity knocks for him at Goodison Park.
Rondon has seen Neal Maupay join Everton from Brighton and his chances will be limited even more when Dominic Calvert-Lewin soon returns from injury. Team-mate Allan was allowed to leave last week to join Al Wahda in the UAE and there was a willingness to let Rondon follow him to the Middle East if the player wanted the move.
However, he has turned it down and will now try to convince boss Frank Lampard to find him more time on the pitch. Rondon has made just five appearances in all competitions this season, and most of those have come from the bench. The 33-year-old former Newcastle star joined Everton 14 months ago from CSKA Moscow. His only goal this season came for Venezuela last week — ironically in a friendly against the UAE national team.
Meanwhile Everton defender James Tarkowski said he has not given up on his dream of playing for England as he eyes a late bid to make Gareth Southgate's World Cup squad. Tarkowski has won two caps for the Three Lions having made his international debut in March 2018. He said: “I’ve got full belief in myself that I’m more than good enough to play for England. Absolutely. The opportunity is still there at the moment for players to get into the squad. We’ll see how it goes. I just have to perform to the best of my ability.
"I feel like I’ve started pretty well here at Everton. The team is playing well and that can only benefit me. There’s a great group of people here – lads on the pitch and people in the background. There is a real positive environment here. Everyone is looking up and looking to the future and we are excited about where this team can go. I’m proud to be a part of it."
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Tarkowski also claimed Everton are still a work in progress under Lampard and fans have not seen the best of the team yet. He added: “There is still a lot more to come from this team. We’re showing the start of something good here but we need to keep developing – that’s with the ball, without the ball, on the training pitch and on matchdays. The coaching has been unbelievable. We’ve had a bit of a turnaround in terms of playing style and formation has changed already this season, but everyone seems to know their jobs.
“When the Arsenal game was called off, there was a feeling of disappointment. Arsenal have been playing really well and the Emirates is a tough stadium to go to, so to be disappointed that game’s called off, we’re obviously thinking, ‘We must fancy ourselves to go to there and do well’. We were desperate to get back playing again and against West Ham we went out there and performed. People are excited to be training and looking forward to games. So far, there have been very good signs.”
