Valencia threat to Gonzalez hopes

Aug 6 2007 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

EVERTON must stave off Valencia as they attempt to sign Porto midfielder Luis Gonzalez.

The Goodison outfit have tabled a club record £10million bid for the 26-year-old Argentina international, known as ‘Lucho’.

Lucho has attracted interest from a number of clubs during a summer in which he was part of his country’s squad for the Copa America tournament.

Porto have already rejected a bid from Valencia, but the La Liga outfit are thought ready to go back with an improved offer.

It has emerged Manchester City have also been tracking in the midfielder, who was not part of the Porto squad that won the Port of Rotterdam Tournament yesterday.

But Everton are confident they can pull off what would be a sensational coup for David Moyes as he looks to bolster his squad ahead of a campaign that includes UEFA Cup football.

Meanwhile Everton have confirmed that James Vaughan will not be back in action until November.

The 19-year-old striker injured himself in a friendly against Preston North End last month and experts have now told him that he faces a minimum of four months on the sidelines.

Physio Mick Rathbone said: “James dislocated his shoulder, which is a nasty injury in a professional sportsman and it always needs repairing.

“He has been to the specialist and things are going tremendously well, but we are looking at an estimated time of four months, certainly no less.”

With the likes of Vaughan and midfielder Tim Cahill ruled out for the start of the campaign, Everton are looking to add to what is already a small squad by Premier League standards by wrapping up a move for Wigan Athletic left-back Leighton Baines before their season begins, ironically against the Latics, at Goodison on Saturday.

The 22-year-old was given permission to talk to both Everton and Newcastle United last week but Sam Allardyce has seemingly admitted defeat in his chase for the player by attempting to recruit two other left-backs.

The Magpies manager has snapped up Jose Enrique from Villarreal for £4million and is also trying to land Sevilla’s Serbian star Ivica Dragutinovic for £2.5million.

Everton assistant manager Alan Irvine revealed that negotiations have already taken place and that the club are hopeful of sealing the deal.

He said: “We are at least part of the way down the road.

“But with the demands made by everyone these days I will only believe it is going to happen when it actually does happen. We have been talking to Leighton and hopefully sorting things out with him.”

Although Baines is highly-regarded within the game, eyebrows have been risen over his hefty price tag, which would make him the most expensive defender in Everton’s history, but Irvine is unconcerned.

He said: “When you look at the prices that are going around these days then £6m is not a great deal of money. Leighton has got real potential to play for his country. Anyone who saw him in the European Under-21 Championships would have been impressed with him. He is a good footballer, a nice passer of the ball, he has loads of energy and he is quick so there are lots of reasons for wanting to sign a player like him.”

Meanwhile, former Everton record signing James Beattie, who arrived for £6million in January 2005, is hoping for a fresh start with Sheffield United in the Championship after a £4million switch to Bramall Lane over the weekend ended what he described as his ‘nightmare’ at Goodison.

Beattie said: “I believe that United have a great chance of bouncing back into the Premier League. With how things turned out for me at Everton, it’s been a bit of a nightmare really and I was very disappointed.

“But, life goes on and I’m excited by this new challenge. People say that I’m taking a step down but Sheffield United is a massive club. It’s up to me to cross that white line and do my talking on the pitch.”