James McCarthy: I was close to joining Spurs
Everton midfielder James McCarthy has revealed that he was close to signing for Tottenham Hotspur as his agent was talking to a number of clubs before Roberto Martinez confirmed that he wanted to sign the player.
The Scottish-born Irishman has been a massive hit on Merseyside with his tough tackling no nonsense midfield play and he said as soon as he was aware of Martinez and Everton’s interest then there was only one move for him.
“The gaffer was a big factor,” he said. “He rang my agent and said he wanted to get a deal done. My agent was speaking to different clubs but once I heard that, there was no going back. I wanted to go to Everton and was just delighted to have got here in the last 10 minutes [of the transfer window]. I don’t think you realise how big the club is until you are here, and how good the fans are.”
McCarthy was further sold on the club after speaking to his Republic of Ireland room mate Seamus Coleman – “He spoke so highly of them and anything he has said about the club is not wrong,” McCarthy added. “It’s a great bunch of boys. There was a lot of talk in the summer, but with the way things have worked out, I’m really happy.”
McCarthy confirmed that Roberto Martinez had some choice words for his team after their Merseyside Derby demolition at the hands of Liverpool.
“[Martinez] said his piece after that game and made us all aware how upset he was,” McCarthy said. “All of us knew how much we had let the club down. We want to show it was a blip.”
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