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Mick McCarthy suggests James McCarthy keen on Everton exit

Tony McArdle - Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images
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James McCarthy is very much on the periphery of things at Everton right now.

James McCarthy of Everton arrives for the Everton v Gor Mahia friendly match at Goodison Park on November 6, 2018 in Liverpool, England.

Mick McCarthy has intimated that James McCarthy might be keen to leave Everton this summer.

The Republic of Ireland midfielder has played 14 minutes of football under Everton boss Marco Silva this season.

He has been an unused substitution on seven occasions across all competitions in 2019 and, as a result, his international boss McCarthy has omitted from his latest squad.

A lack of form and fitness has restricted McCarthy to four appearances for the Toffees in nearly 18 months.

And the Boys in Green boss reckons that the former Wigan star, who earns £50,000 per week at Goodison Park [Silly Season], is keen for a change of scenery.

“He’s just not been playing and I did speak to him,” McCarthy told The Irish Independent: “He wants to sort his own career out, his own future out this summer.

“Had he been fully fit for the last 12 months things might have been different because I think he’s one of our best players but that’s not been the case. So he wants to just sort himself out this summer.

“He wants to do that [play regularly]. I think he wants to be fit and healthy and get his future sorted. He’s been on the bench so quite clearly he’s fit enough to be involved.”

The problem for McCarthy – who tried to quit the Merseyside outfit in January [The Echo] – is that the Everton boss simply has better midfielders.

He is by no means a bad player, but when you’re competing with Idrissa Gueye and Andre Gomes then many more talented midfielders would’ve also had to settle for the bench.

James McCarthy of Everton in action during the pre-season friendly match between Everton and Espanyol at Goodison Park on August 6, 2016 in Liverpool, England.