Tom Davies preferred Everton stay despite being made available for transfer
Tom Davies rejected the chance to leave Everton this summer, according to The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland and Greg O’Keeffe.
Everton endured a fairly low-key summer transfer window in terms of arrivals while Moise Kean and Bernard were the only big-name departures.
However, Davies, 23, could have joined that duo out of the exit door at Goodison Park.
Boyland and O’Keeffe’s article for The Athletic claims the Blues midfielder was made “available for transfer”, but that he preferred to stay and fight for his place.
That placed further doubt on the club buying a new midfielder themselves, with Rafa Benitez in contact with Newcastle United’s Sean Longstaff, as they were keen to avoid adding further numbers to an already bloated area of the pitch.
Periphery
Davies has only played once in Benitez’s first four games in charge at Everton, starting their 2-1 win over Huddersfield Town in the League Cup on August 24.
He was substituted in the 64th minute of that game in West Yorkshire with the scores level at 1-1 before Andros Townsend struck the winner 15 minutes later.
The Liverpool-born midfielder was missing from the squad that beat Brighton 2-0 on the south-coast four days later, seemingly through injury given the Blues were a man down on the bench.
However, Davies was stuck on the bench in Benitez’s first two Premier League games, so whether he’d have made an appearance against the Seagulls anyway is doubtful.
Benitez certainly has options in the centre of midfield.
Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure were major Carlo Ancelotti signings last year and both look shoo-ins to start in the engine room when fit, while Andre Gomes made his first Premier League appearance of the season at the Amex Stadium.
Fabian Delph and Jean-Philippe Gbamin are also options in the middle of midfield, so Davies may have a job on his hands to force his way into the side.
In other Everton news, the Blues may revisit a deal for this international ace after suffering a summer blow.
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