Your Everton morning headlines for Sunday, July 3
From Wembley hero to £20m flop - the story of James Tarkowski new Everton squad number
James Tarkowski will wear the number two shirt for Everton and becomes the ninth player to do so ever since squad numbers were introduced at the start of the 1993/94 season – the second year of the Premier League.
The 29-year-old had worn number five for Burnley for the past five seasons but that is already taken, ironically by his former Clarets centre-back partner Michael Keane, who Tarkowski, initially wearing 26 at Turf Moor, inherited the number from in 2017 when his team-mate moved to Goodison Park in a £25million transfer.
Although captain Seamus Coleman has been Everton’s first choice right-back for a number of years now, the Irishman has retained his original number 23 jersey for over a decade.
Chris Beesley takes a look back at the Blues previous number twos.
Paul Merson makes Steven Bergwijn Everton transfer claim and new Richarlison admission
Paul Merson has criticised Tottenham Hotspur's signing of Richarlison - while urging Everton to replace the fan favourite with a move for Steven Bergwijn.
Richarlison completed his £60m transfer to Spurs on Friday. The forward scored 53 goals in 152 appearances across four years at Everton. This included 10 in 30 during the last Premier League season. His performances were crucial as he stepped up to help guide the Blues to safety, shouldering the attacking burden after Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed large parts of the campaign and struggled for fitness and form.
Tottenham have been active in the early weeks of the transfer window with Richarlison adding to their captures of Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic and Fraser Forster. But despite seemingly recruiting from a position of strength and adding to their attacking assets, Merson told the Daily Star that Richarlison is a poor acquisition.
William Pickworth has the story.
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