Emphatic decision made on £13m PL ace hotly tipped to join Newcastle - reports

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Published on:

18 Jan 2017, 2:40 am

By Harry Sykes

Everton have closed the door on the possibility of James McCarthy leaving the club this month, according to a report.

The Times claim the Merseyside club "will rebuff all interest" in McCarthy even though he has been only a big-part player under Ronald Koeman this season.

Everton's emphatic decision will be a blow to Newcastle, who have made attempts to sign the Republic of Ireland international during the January window.

The Chronicle reported earlier this month that the Championship promotion challengers had made an approach to land McCarthy.

There then followed a wave of bets on the player transferring to St James' Park, with Newcastle installed odds-on favourites to sign the Everton player by bookmakers Sky Bet on Monday night.

Yet Goodison manager Ronald Koeman does not appear ready to cash in on McCarthy even though the player who was a regular under Roberto Martinez has been on the fringes of the side this season.

There is also increasing competition in the Everton midfield, with Koeman following up the successful signing of Idrissa Gueye from Aston Villa last summer by prising Morgan Schneiderlin from Manchester United last week for a fee rising to £24million.

McCarthy joined Everton from Wigan in the summer of 2013 for a fee of £13million and has made 122 appearances for the Merseysiders, scoring five goals.

The midfielder, who has been capped 41 times by the Republic of Ireland, has made just nine appearances in all competitions this season spread across 540 minutes of action.

In other Newcastle transfer news, the club are ironing out the final details of a landmark midfielder deal.

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