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Paul Merson delivers brutal put down of Everton, fans will be furious
By Matt Farr
Paul Merson believes Romelu Lukaku is right to snub a new deal with Everton and slammed the club’s lack of ambition.
Lukaku, 23, dealt a major blow to Everton by declining the club’s offer of a new contract, despite his agent Mino Raiola claiming that terms had ‘99.9 per cent’ been agreed.
The contract snub further fuelled talk that the Belgian international striker is set to quit Everton in the summer, but Merson believes he has made the right choice.
In his column for the Daily Star, the pundit criticised the Merseyside club for their lack of ambition, claiming they were still a million miles from the top four.
He wrote: “Romelu Lukaku is right to say no to a new contract at Everton. I think his head has been turned by a bigger club and he wants to keep his options open.
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“He’s done very well at Everton but they get to a certain stage with players and then they leave. Will Ronald Koeman even be there next season? I don’t know how high Everton can reach.
“When the new owner came in you thought: ‘Here we go…’ but they haven’t signed a single big name. They still look a million miles from the top four and I can understand Lukaku questioning their ambition.”
Everton fans will be furious at Merson’s comments, despite several groups admitting that Lukaku’s exit was an inevitable outcome.
They will firmly believe that the club have made improvements this season, with Koeman’s side currently six points adrift of the Premier League top four with eight games remaining.
Meanwhile, they have also confirmed plans to quit Goodison Park, their home since 1892, and move to a new location at the Bramley Moor Dock, in what will be a new era for the club.
Lukaku has scored 22 goals from 30 appearances for Everton this season, and has been strongly linked with a return to Chelsea, who sold him to the Toffees for £28million in 2014.
In other Everton news, fans have ripped into Aston Villa’s Neil Taylor following his horror challenge on Seamus Coleman.
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