Everton aim to complete James McFadden departure today

Jan 18 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

EVERTON hope to push through the £5.5million sale of James McFadden to Birmingham City today – despite a late hitch to the deal last night.

The 24-year-old travelled to the Midlands for a medical, but a delay in the thrashing out of personal terms meant he left without completing the move.

However, Goodison officials are confident the deal can still go through despite suggestions that another club have stepped in to challenge Birmingham for McFadden’s signature.

The player’s agent Willie McKay made the claim without naming the other club, although Celtic and Rangers have also shown an interest – but City still hope to unveil the Scottish international as their player.

And St Andrews remains McFadden’s preferred destination as it will re-unite him with manager Alex McLeish, who was in charge of Scotland during their stirring attempts to qualify for Euro 2008.

Everton accepted an offer yesterday that doubled the original bid Birmingham made last week and quadruples the fee manager David Moyes paid Motherwell for the forward four seasons ago.

McFadden made his best start to a season with Everton this year and, including his heroics in the climax of the Euro 2008 campaign, scored seven times in 12 games.

But the 24-year-old still struggled to hold down a regular place in the Everton side and his goal at Middlesbrough on New Year’s Day marked his first Premier League start since he was substituted at half-time at Newcastle in early October.

He had regained his place in the side this month, but in his less-favoured role as a wide man because of Moyes’s recent lack of reinforcements.

And although Everton were in no hurry to sell McFadden, they couldn’t resist Birmingham’s third offer, which matched their valuation and came just days after a previous one in the region of £3million was rejected.

Moyes is hoping to use the cash to compensate for the current shortage of attacking options up front and in midfield – Leon Osman is still recovering from a broken foot, while Yakubu and Steven Pienaar could be on African Cup of Nations duty for another three weeks.

Reported targets this week have included Zenit St Petersburg striker Andrei Arshavin, whose agent is trying to engineer the 26-year-old a move to a Premier League club.

Steve Sidwell is also available for a move, but the financial implications of adding the Chelsea midfielder to Manuel Fernandes in the loan ranks is likely to prove beyond Everton’s means.

Meanwhile, Everton yesterday confirmed a second shirt deal with Thailand-based Chang Beer which will be worth £8million over three years.

Their current deal with the company runs out at the end of the current campaign, and chief executive Keith Wyness has been in the Far East this week to complete the deal.

The previous deal was worth around £4.5million to Everton, and the new contract reflects Everton’s involvement in European football and their growing improvement in the Barclays Premier League.

And Wyness feels the deal also confirms the stability within the club, saying: “This is a significant day for Everton.

“David Moyes is the third-longest manager in the Premier League and this is one of the longest sponsorship deals. I think it reflects the stability here.

“It takes time to build trust and relationships but this is the second time Chang have chosen to renew their links with us and we are still very happy with the terms.

“It is a significant day for us and we believe we are a sought-after commodity.

“The scale of this new deal reflects Everton’s success on and off the field in recent years and also represents Chang’s faith in the Everton name.”