Sean Dyche is expected to be named as Everton’s manager this weekend after Marcelo Bielsa told the club he would only take full charge in the summer. The arrival of Dyche is set to coincide with the departure of Anthony Gordon to Newcastle in a £40m deal.
Bielsa was the first choice of Everton’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, and flew to London on Thursday to hold further talks with club officials. That raised their hopes of enticing the Argentinian to Goodison Park, despite his reservations over the state of the club and the squad and his record of never taking over a European club mid-season.
The 67-year-old remained unconvinced about taking charge of Everton’s fight against relegation at this stage, however. Bielsa informed Everton he would join now but would work behind the scenes until the end of the season, coaching the under-21s and younger players as the club adapted to his methods. That would have left Everton needing an interim manager for the precarious task of keeping them in the Premier League and was not a situation the club was willing to accept.
The end of negotiations with Bielsa cleared the way for Dyche to succeed Frank Lampard and negotiations started on Friday over what is likely to be a two-and-a-half-year contract for the former Burnley manager. The make-up of his backroom staff is being finalised, with his long-time Burnley assistant Ian Woan involved.
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Dyche has been out of work since being sacked by Burnley in April and, unlike Bielsa, made it clear he would relish the opportunity to relaunch his Premier League managerial career at Everton during talks with the director of football, Kevin Thelwell. He would take over a team that have lost 11 of their past 14 matches in all competitions and lie joint-bottom of the Premier League.
Gordon is preparing to head out of Everton after Newcastle agreed to buy the forward for £40m. Everton rejected a similar sum last summer from Chelsea.
The 21-year-old missed three days of training this week while negotiations were being held and is keen on the move. His transfer, which is subject to a medical, would release funds for Everton to spend before Tuesday’s deadline. They have not made a signing this month.
