Does Everton’s James McCarthy need Celtic move to kick-start career?

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Celtic wanted to sign James McCarthy a year ago – and his Everton career hasn’t exactly improved since.

Another international break, another war of words between Republic of Ireland and Everton over the fitness of James McCarthy.

The midfielder has missed each of the last 13 games with a knee injury having missed a further 25 last season due to a series of muscle complaints.

Yet, he was still deemed fit enough to be called up by Ireland for their World Cup qualifying double header against Moldova and Wales with the ROI assistant coach Roy Keane hardly hiding his exasperation over Everton’s supposedly overly-cautious approach.

Nonetheless, even when McCarthy is fully up to speed, it is increasingly difficult to see a place for him in this Everton team. Perhaps a move to boyhood club Celtic, then, is exactly what the former Wigan midfielder needs to get his career back on track.

Perfect time for a fresh start

According to the Daily Record, Celtic were desperate to land McCarthy in the January transfer record and were hoping to strike a loan deal with his £15 million price tag, not to mention £65,000-a-week wages, out the reach of their budget.

In the end, however, McCarthy was forced to stay at Everton but his first-team prospects under Ronald Koeman haven’t been helped since by further injuries and a spate of additions in the centre of the park.

Morgan Schneiderlin arrived in January while Gylfi Sigurdsson and Davy Klaassen rocked up for big fees in the summer. Furthermore, Tom Davies has gone from strength to strength since emerging from the academy while Mo Besic is back to full fitness after spending an age on the sidelines.

With Celtic needing to plan ahead and look for a successor for 32-year-old skipper Scott Brown, then, McCarthy should once again come into their thinking.

And with his standing at Everton at an all-time low, it appears the sooner he leaves the better.