With the deal for Moussa Sissoko falling through, with the midfielder joining Tottenham Hotspur , both James McCarthy and Everton may reap the rewards.
Newcastle United v Arsenal – Barclays Premier League
Everton’s move for Moussa Sissoko on deadline day brought about questions of James McCarthy’s future at the club, particularly with Crystal Palace, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion waiting in the wings should the deal go through.
Sissoko ultimately turned his back on Everton and signed for Tottenham Hotspur, and that has resulted in Everton owner Farhad Moshiri claiming his club pulled out of the Sissoko move out of loyalty to McCarthy.
As was widely reported on deadline day, Everton had agreed a fee with Newcastle United for Sissoko and had agreed personal terms with the player. The Toffees even laid on a private plane to bring the midfielder to Merseyside for a medical, but as manager Ronald Koeman called the France international to welcome him to the club, he turned his phone off to avoid the Dutchman’s calls, The Sun reported.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman
Koeman was keen to secure the signing of Sissoko and has brought about doubts over McCarthy’s future at Goodison Park, but Sissoko moving to Spurs is a good move for Koeman’s side and may be a blessing in disguise.
Moshiri is adamant they withdrew from the Sissoko transfer, rather than the midfielder choosing to sign for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, for the sake of protecting McCarthy’s position as an integral part of Koeman’s team, but it raises questions over how big a role the Republic of Ireland midfielder will play this season.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
Aside from saving the club a £30 million transfer fee, McCarthy has qualities to help Everton thrive in the Premier League, qualities Sissoko doesn’t have. While Sissoko is more progressive going forward, as fans at White Hart Lane may find out, McCarthy is classed as a more defensive midfielder, or holding midfielder.
But while that is a fair assessment, that can be attributed to the roles within Everton and Newcastle that the two midfielders played last season. An argument could be made that McCarthy under Koeman could be given more freedom to play in a more attacking system at Everton.
Defensively McCarthy gives you more than Sissoko does. Last season McCarthy completed 79 tackles compared to Sissoko’s 54, he also completed 51 interceptions, and had 48 clearances, whereas Sissoko completed 35 interceptions and had 36 clearances.
In general team play Sissoko had 7 assists, completed 1,385 passes, with 37.43 passes per match, when put in comparison with McCarthy who had 2 assists, completed 1,357 passes and had 46.79 passes per match. Opinions can be divided on which player gives the team as a whole more on the pitch.
Tottenham’s Erik Lamela in action with Everton’s James McCarthy
But where McCarthy really comes alive is when compared to Sissoko in attack. Last season Sissoko scored 1 goal, whereas McCarthy scored 2, that in turn gave the Everton midfielder a goals per match of 0.07, compared to Sissoko’s 0.03. The former Newcastle midfielder also had 38 shots on goal, with a shooting accuracy of 32%, whereas McCarthy had 16 shots at goal and a shooting accuracy of 44%.
While opinions between the two players will be divided due to their positions within their respective sides, McCarthy played eight games fewer than Sissoko last season as Newcastle were relegated and Everton finished 11th in the Premier League.
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