Everton in talks with Manchester United to sign Tottenham Hotspur transfer target James Garner
Everton are in talks with Manchester United in order to sign Tottenham Hotspur target James Garner this summer, according to the Athletic (Subscription Required). They want around £14m for the midfielder, who has also been linked with Leicester City and Southampton.
The 21-year-old had a successful loan spell at Nottingham Forest last season where he helped the Tricky Trees to promotion. A return to Man United was envisaged as an occasion which would precede his breakout season at the club.
Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic departed the club on free transfers earlier this summer, and the stage was set for Garner to make his mark. However, Christian Eriksen and Casemiro’s signing coupled with Erik ten Hag’s arrival has seen Garner get no playing time this month.
He is yet to play a single minute this season and that is unlikely to get better if he stays at Old Trafford beyond August, barring any injuries to United’s current first-team options.
Garner to Everton?
Perhaps that is why the Toffees have earmarked him as a target. Manager Frank Lampard can offer him relatively more playing time at Everton while United can pocket some cash from a player they deem expendable.
Moreover, they would be able to defray some of the expenses of signing Casemiro from the cash they receive from Garner’s potential sale. For Spurs, this comes as bad news if they were really keen on signing the player.
For Garner, it made little sense to move to N17 if his situation regarding playing time wasn’t going to change. It’s hard to imagine manager Antonio Conte preferring to start him over the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Yves Bissouma, and Rodrigo Bentancur.
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- Tottenham Hotspur open to loaning Sergio Reguilon to Nottingham Forest but on one condition
That trio has won Conte’s trust and two of out three were signed by the Italian manager himself earlier this year. Hence, potentially losing out on a young prospect like Garner is never good news but it’s not the end of the world for Spurs.
