Everton News Roundup

Since I've been lazy and haven't posted in a while, I've missed a couple of stories over the last week. Nothing life changing, but nonetheless important.

1) Jermaine Beckford has officially signed a 4-year contract with the club. We knew it was going to happen, we were just waiting for the "official" news.

2) Manchester City is interested in John Heitinga. The reported bid will reportedly be around 9 million pounds even though he is on a 4-year contract with Everton. Heitinga's response to City's interest is a little disconcerting.

"Manchester City have ambition, and I am open to the idea of joining a big club. I hear things said here, there, and everywhere about a move for me, although there is nothing definite yet."

"But I still have a four year contract, without a fixed-buyout clause, so I'm trying to establish myself at Everton. "

It seems that he is always open to joining a bigger club, but he will honor his contract and will only go if the two parties reach an agreement (unlike Lescott and many others). Source: Goal.com

3) Striker Victor Anichebe did not make Nigeria's World Cup roster after they trimmed players to their final 23-man squad. The reasoning behind Nigeria dropping Anichebe seems due to "serious injury", even though Everton is disputing this as misinformation. Everton claim that Anichebe only suffered a minor shin bruise.

I don't know what to believe, this whole situation seems a little bizzare. It makes it even weirder because Anichebe had been performing very well in the tune-ups right before the final squad was named.

Lescott Deja Vu

Everton has sent a strong message to both Arsenal and Manchester United that Phil Jagielka is not for sale. This seems eerily familiar to how the Joleon Lescott affair started out. Not to say this will play out exactly the same, because Lescott wanted to leave and was vocal about it. Just saying that this was how it started last year too.

Here's some other transfer rumors and news:

-Since there are a number of clubs keen on securing West Ham's Carlton Cole, West Ham is looking at Yakubu as a possible replacement. There is definitely a possibility that Moyes is willing to sell Yakubu as long as a decent price is offered. Yakubu has struggled to find form since returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon. Sources: ESPN and Goal.com.

- I don't know how good this source is so you are going to have to bear with me, but tribalfootball.com says that we may be in the race (with Aston Villa) to sign Tottenham winger David Bentley. A fee 10 million pounds seems like a bargain.

- This news is a little late but Dan Gosling is ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery. He was projected to be out for 9 months, but is expected to recover sooner than that according to BBC Sport.

- Marseille's Hatem Ben Arfa is on David Moyes' radar yet again. He has had a great season with the Ligue 1 winners and has voiced his interest for playing in England. "To have a chance to play in England would be wonderful but the sporting project is more interesting to me than any sums of money." Source: Goal.com
Seems like David Moyes is getting ready to replace Steven Pienaar in case he leaves. David Bentley and Hatem Ben Arfa are both wingers like Pienaar and would be good, cheap replacements.

Steven Pienaar seems to want his future resolved sooner rather than later, according to this article by skysports.com. Pienaar wants to know where he will be next year before the World Cup begins. This is a great thing for Everton because most likely we will either sign an extension with him or sell him, instead of letting him go for free after next season.

Pienaar plays the attacking midfielder role perfectly for Everton, but I am not so sure he would fit in with every club. At this time, we know that Tottenham along with Man U. and Liverpool are interested in him(maybe some other foreign clubs too).

The two big question marks next season are Jack Rodwell and Pienaar, and although I would like both of them to stay, I would rather keep Rodwell. David Moyes seems hell-bent on keeping everyone so we may be able to sign Pienaar, but I am not too worried, as long as we get a good price for him.

Hopefully, this problem sees a solution soon so we don't have another last minute scramble to find a replacement player (like the Joleon Lescott incident).