The Blues boss was cautious in his pre-Bournemouth press conference, an approach that has served him well to date but which may be challenged when it comes to Saturday. Sean Dyche may not be superstitious, but after 20 months as Everton boss he knows the importance of not assuming everything will go as planned. Few managers could have experienced as turbulent a reign as his and the consequence is the knowledge that a problem is normally lurking in the shadows. That may explain his caution as he approached the final hours of a summer transfer window that still has the potential to throw up some late challenges for him and his colleagues at Finch Farm. Orel Mangala is booked in for a medical after Everton made a late move for the 26-year-old in a bid to strengthen the central midfield. A deal that would see him joining on loan from Lyon is progressing but, as he held his press conference ahead of the visit of Bournemouth, Dyche refused to get ahead of himself.
Sean Dyche said “He is a player who is making his way over but there is still a lot to do over the details of any deal but there is a chance of us getting him over and us getting that deal done”
Nuamah links Neal Maupay is heading to France for a medical with Marseille ahead of his expected departure. Again Dyche, who arrived days after Arnaut Danjuma’s famous 11th hour U-turn from Everton to Tottenham Hotspur in January of last year, left open the potential for the unexpected to triumph.
Sean Dyche said “There is a possible situation where he will leave the club, there is nothing guaranteed yet but he will be travelling over and seeing if that deal can happen.”
Maupay’s future has long looked set to be away from Merseyside , a theory perhaps rubber-stamped by the player sharing a clip from the classic jailbreak movie the Shawshank Redemption as news broke of a development in talks with Marseille in the hour before Thursday’s press conference. His departure, should it go through, would not automatically pave the way for further incomings but Everton are braced for the potential for more business before 11pm on Friday. Should that include the addition of Mangala it would provide Dyche with an attribute he places a high value on when it comes to new signings – Premier League experience.
Sean Dyche said “He has got a bit more knowhow than some of the other signings we have brought in having played in the Premier League a bit more… we’ll see if the deal gets done.”
One of the threads that has run through his interviews this summer has been his desire to make clear patience is required when it comes to new signings adapting to life in the English top flight. He continued to do the same as the topic of conversation moved from the transfer window to the Bournemouth match on Saturday. It is a game that follows two heavy defeats in the Premier League but a positive jolt of momentum came from the midweek win against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup. The win was inspired by several new signings , with goalscorer Iliman Ndiaye, Jesper Lindstrom and Jake O’Brien making their first starts for the club.
