Martinez wants winger with Chelsea’s Atsu deal no more

Everton manager Roberto Martinez, who is 13/2 to steer his side to a top four finish, has stated that he only needs one more player, a winger, to complete his squad, after a productive transfer window so far.

Gareth Barry, Romelu Lukaku, Muhamed Besic and Brendan Galloway have joined so far, with no big names leaving.

Chelsea’s Christian Atsu was reportedly set to join the Toffees on loan as part of the £28m deal that saw striker Lukaku move back to Goodison Park permanently. However, newspaper sources suggest that is no longer the case, with Chelsea pulling out as they feel the Ghanaian would not get enough game time.

Everton already have the likes of widemen Kevin Mirallas, Aiden McGeady and Steven Pienaar at their disposal, but Martinez still wants more cover.

“It’s only one position [we need],” the Spaniard said. “We want to take as long as we can to see how quickly we can get the injured players back to being available for the first-team.

“Probably another body would help for the September month when we have three competitions to fight for, and we’ll carry on working hard on that.

“Wide player is the position we want to bring in, but in terms of names it is too early to mention to our fans.

“But we are pleased with the numbers and the quality we have in the squad now. We have a couple of young players we know are ready and they are going to help, so the numbers are strong.

“All it is now is making sure that every day we sharpen up individually and as a team.”

As Martinez mentioned, he does currently have youth players available to the senior squad, the likes of Hallam Hope, Matthew Kennedy and Chris Long – who have all been given numbers for this coming season. But will they be ready for first team football, if injuries occur?

While the Toffees’ boss is mentioning no names, Celta Vigo winger Nolito is a reported target. Everton recently played the La Liga side in a friendly, with the Spaniard hitting a hat-trick in a 3-1 loss, and has understandably caught Martinez’ eye, having been an apparent long-term admirer of the 27-year-old.