James Garner has basically just had his Everton future confirmed by Ruben Amorim after Man United reveal
Everton star James Garner’s hopes of a move to Manchester United may have been dashed by Ruben Amorim.
Everton were reportedly braced for interest in Garner from the Red Devils, who are understood to be keen on bringing him back to Old Trafford.
While the Blues will be keen to bring in their own additions, their number one focus should be keeping the midfielder at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Their chances of doing so may have been boosted after what the Portuguese manager has recently admitted.
What did Amorim say about Garner amid Everton exit talk?
Garner’s Everton contract runs out at the end of the season, but they do have the option to extend that by another year.
United seemed set to test the waters with an approach for the 24-year-old when the market reopens, but that may not be the case after what Amorim said.
The Red Devils boss did not seem very confident when asked about the potential for January additions, which suggests Garner‘s future may be clear.
Speaking to Sky Sports on 30 December, he said: “The window is open, and we need to understand what we can do.
“Not just from the place of what we can bring, but what is going to happen to our squad.
“I’m just thinking about recovering all of my players, so I’m not going to knock on the door of Jason [Wilcox] and Omar [Berrada] to ask more players.
“They know what we need, but I also understand that we have a process. We want to do things with certainty, that we are not going to make the same mistakes in the past.
“If we need to suffer in some moments, we are going to suffer, to try to be two steps ahead, maybe in the summer. It’s a really tough market in January, so we’ll see.”
Why Everton need to keep Garner at all costs
Garner was a class above in Everton’s 0-0 draw at Burnley, and he has proved to be David Moyes’ swiss-army knife this season.
The former Nottingham Forest ace has stepped in at both right-back and left-back when needed, as well as playing in his traditional midfield role.
The Toffees can not afford to lose a player of his quality, and if anything, they need to add more players around him who can perform at the same level.
The appeal of going back to his boyhood club and proving that they never should have let him go may be very appealing, but the Blues need to convince him that he should remain on Merseyside.
If they cannot, it will be a very tough task to find a replacement who can step in straight away and replicate what he does.
Luckily, it seems like they may not have to, at least not in the immediate future after Amorim’s admission.
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