What The Papers Say - 09 December

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EVERTON are trying to bring USA captain Landon Donovan to Goodison Park in January.

Manager David Moyes wants to hammer out a loan deal for Donovan, who plays alongside David Beckham at LA Galaxy and is now set to follow his team-mate to Europe.

Donovan will skipper the US against England in the World Cup and could spend the second half of the season getting to know the players he will come up against in Rustenburg on June 12 in the opening game of Group C.

The player’s agent, Richard Motzkin, and LA Galaxy officials were tight-lipped last night, but negotiations are understood to be under way.

A spokesman for Galaxy said: “We have interest in Landon from many teams in Europe all the time.” Donovan, 27, would join US team-mate Tim Howard at Everton, where Moyes believes he can help arrest Everton’s poor start to the Premier League season.

The forward, who can also operate as an attacking midfielder, spent a loan spell at Bayern Munich between last January and March.

The new MLS season begins on March 27, but Everton are set to try to persuade Galaxy to allow Donovan to stay on Merseyside for the rest of the Premier League season.

Beckham spent five months of last season with AC Milan before returning to Galaxy.

He will return to the San Siro in the new year, as he looks to maintain his match fitness in a bid to force his way into Fabio Capello’s England World Cup squad. Donovan won the MLS’s Most Valuable Player award for the season that has just finished and has amassed 120 caps for the USA, scoring 42 goals.

He fell out with Beckham last summer after criticising the England player for being a poor team-mate in an interview with Sports Illustrated magazine, but the pair later resolved their differences.

IN 1939 Sligo Rovers pulled off a major coup when they coaxed Dixie Dean across the Irish Sea.

At 32, the former Everton striker's best days were behind him. Still, it was the deal of the century for Irish football.

On his arrival, the Railway Pub in Sligo town centre was said to be crammed with wondrous locals, clamouring to catch a glimpse of the legendary player.

He scored 10 goals in seven games for the Connacht club and history had been made.

Some 70 years later Everton’s and Sligo's worlds collided again, only this time there was no grand unveiling.

Seamus Coleman slipped into Finch Farm last January with little fanfare after David Moyes dipped into the petty cash to pay Sligo Rovers £150,000 for the Republic-of-Ireland U21 international.

Should the unassuming Donegal defender live up to the expectation that suddenly surrounds him following an eye-catching man-of-the-match display against Tottenham at the weekend he will be a snip at the price.

It may not be on a par with Dean's brief foray to the Emerald Isle, but deal of the decade? You never know.

Coleman's rise from obscurity began three years ago when he was spotted by former Sligo manager, Sean Connor, who took his team to the then teenager's hometown of Killybegs for a pre-season friendly against amateur side St Catherine's.

The story goes that Connor was also using the trip to look at property in the area. Instead, he returned to Sligo with a different kind of asset.

"With 20 minutes to go, St Catherine's put this young lad on at centre-half and I knew straight away he had something," recalls Connor.

"It was only 20 minutes but he was flying into tackles, driving forward and displaying this fantastic energy.

"By the end we'd won 4-0 but there was only one thing on my mind. I had to sign this kid.

"I didn't leave the ground until he'd agreed to sign.

"The piece of paper he signed wasn't even a proper contract. I just wanted him to sign something there and then before we could get a proper contract in front of him a few days later."

EVERTON are considering a January loan move for United States international Landon Donovan.

Donovan is currently a team-mate of David Beckham at LA Galaxy, who recently lost the Major League Soccer final against Real Salt Lake.

With Louis Saha troubled by a niggling calf problem, Yakubu still regaining fitness after nine months out with a ruptured Achilles and both Victor Anichebe and James Vaughan long-term absentees, Everton manager David Moyes is keen to bolster his attacking options in the coming transfer window.

And a short term deal for Donovan could fit the bill, with the 27-year-old having previous experience of European football with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.

Donovan is a regular for the United States that has qualified for next summer’s World Cup and scored in the 3-2 FIFA Confederations Cup final defeat to Brazil in June.

Everton are hoping to line up a loan move for America's World Cup midfielder Landon Donovan in the new year.

Manager David Moyes sees the 27-year-old's attacking qualities, either in the centre of midfield or on the flanks, as a valuable addition to his injury-hit squad.

Moyes intends to contact Donovan's club, Los Angeles Galaxy, to see if a temporary deal can be agreed.

EVERTON hope to land David Beckham's LA Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan on loan in the January transfer window.
Blues bosses are sure their US counterparts will give the green light to a spell in the Premier League for their captain, after letting Beckham join AC Milan until June.

Donovan, 27, is a legend in the States, topping the country's scoring charts with 42 international goals.

He would jump at the chance of regular action - and the opportunity to pick up priceless tips on his World Cup opponents before USA and England meet in South Africa.

Last summer Donovan fell out with Beckham after accusing the England star of lacking commitment.

But the pair put the row behind them by taking the Galaxy to the MLS Cup final.

Blues chief David Moyes knows he will not have much cash to spend in the January sales.

But he needs to freshen his Toffees squad up after a nightmare first half to this campaign.

Everton are currently just three points above the drop zone, with a shocking injury list and only Louis Saha - with nine goals - scoring more than twice this term.