What The Papers Say - 16 January

A round-up of the day's Everton-related paper talk.

The views on this page are taken from the local and national media and do not necessarily reflect the views of Everton.

EAGER Everton FC fans may have to wait a little longer to see exciting wide man Kevin Mirallas back in a Blue shirt.

But the Belgian, voted the best foreign player of 2011/12 in Greece this week, should be back for the second half of what could be a memorable campaign for the Blues.

Mirallas is back in training after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury which had already sidelined him for a month against Spurs on December 9.

But the Blues may not risk him at Southampton on Monday, in a bid to ensure the player doesn’t suffer another repeat of the problem which has already seen him miss 11 matches.

After a sparkling introduction to the Premier League, the pacy and penetrative winger first felt the problem after a devastating first 45 minutes of the Goodison derby match in October.

He got through the next game at Fulham, but then limped off just 30 minutes into the home victory over Sunderland.

After sitting out for a month, he returned against Spurs but again came off at half-time and has missed a further seven matches since.

Despite scoring only one league goal so far, Mirallas’ impact has been considerable and his return would give manager David Moyes a major boost.

Mirallas returned to Greece this week – to pick up his prize for being the best foreign player of the 2011/12 season.

Everton signed Mirallas from Olympiakos this summer for £5.3m, after an outstanding campaign in Greece saw him awarded the League’s prestigious best foreign player award from the Panhellenic Association of Professional Footballers (PSAP) – the most established award ceremony in Greek football.

Yaya Toure is a previous winner of the award, which has also been claimed by former Liverpool players Djibril Cisse and Sebastian Leto Mirallas also brought back the prize for finishing as the Super League’s top scorer, with 20 goals.

Everton’s youth team, meanwhile, had to rearrange their FA Youth Cup tie at Port Vale after last night’s fourth round clash was postponed because of a frozen pitch.

The match will now be played next Tuesday, January 22 with a 7pm kick-off. The winners face a trip to either Fulham or Arsenal in the fifth round.

EVERTON are closing in on a £10m deal for Toulouse midfielder Etienne Capoue.

Goodison boss David Moyes wants the France international as an eventual replacement for the in-demand Marouane Fellaini.

And club officials have opened talks for Capoue, 24, who has spent his entire senior career with the Ligue 1 outfit.

Toulouse coach Alain Casanova said: “Capoue is the best player this club has had for 20 years.”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is also a fan of the powerful ballwinner, who has made over 150 first-team appearances and won four caps for France.



Blackburn want Everton striker Anton Forrester, 18, after he impressed in a training game.