Everton leave the door open for Spurs to sign midfielder... or not

As the midfield market has continued to shrink, the focus of Spurs' hunt for a Defensive Midfielder has narrowed to Everton's James McCarthy. Spurs fans are looking for any clarification they can find on the midfielder's future. Fortunately we have conflicting reports from two different news sources!

According to Roberto Martinez in the Irish Independent, McCarthy is not for sale.

"There are two reasons why James McCarthy is not for sale," said Martinez. "The first is that Everton are a club that has balanced its books, it is not a club that needs to sell anybody. The second is that James McCarthy has been a strong performer for me for a number of seasons. I know exactly how he performs, he is a central part of my plans so the answer would be no."

Meanwhile, in the Mirror, it would seem that Everton is not offering McCarthy a new deal, which has repeatedly been mentioned by McCarthy as his problem with the club. McCarthy has not received a promised raise, according to the article, all while Tom Cleverly was brought in on much higher wages.

So what does this mean? Probably that Everton would like to keep McCarthy but understand that they have a malcontent on their hands. If Spurs, or City, want the Irish Midfielder, they're probably going to have to pay Everton's asking price and not a penny less.