Sunderland were one of several clubs said keen on the Everton midfielder during the summer.
Sunderland were linked with a move for Everton’s James McCarthy during the summer – could the Mackems renew their interest in January.
How is he getting on?
The Irishman’s stop-start campaign is currently on pause again, after injury denied him his fourth successive Premier League start, against Leicester City on Boxing Day. That said, it was still his longest run in the side under Ronald Koeman, who has been irked by the handling of McCarthy by his national team manager, Martin O’Neill, and not always fancied him even when fit. With a reported move for Manchester United’s Morgan Schneiderlin in the pipeline, another spell on the sidelines could be costly for McCarthy.
Do Sunderland still need him?
More so than ever, with Lee Cattermole, Jan Kirchhoff and Jack Rodwell all injured, Didier N’Dong off to the African Cup of Nations and Yann M’Vila reneging on his agreement to return to the Stadium of Light in January. Centre-back Jason Denayer has plugged the gap in recent weeks and, beyond him, David Moyes’ options are somewhat scarce.
Can they get him next month?
Sunderland’s chief executive Martin Bain has already confirmed that Moyes will be working with a limited budget during the upcoming window, so a loan deal would perhaps be the Mackems’ most realistic hope -unless Everton return for Lamine Kone and offer McCarthy as a makeweight. However, they would have to get rid of either Adnan Januzaj or Denayer first, having reached the maximum of two domestic loan signings at any one time. Others with more lavish budgets are reported to be keen on McCarthy.
Verdict: The Kone thing might be Sunderland’s only option.
Would McCarthy be a good signing for Sunderland?
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