That’s according to Girona’s sporting director Quique Cárcel, who has backed the manager for a bright future as he leads the Spanish side to unprecedented heights this season.

Girona currently sit top of La Liga after 13 games of the season, with 11 wins one draw and jus one defeat putting them two points clear of Real Madrid and four ahead of Barcelona.

They’ve undoubtedly been the surprise package of European football so far, with a series of impressive performances seeing them establish themselves as title contenders.

There is already talk in Spain about a potential repeat of Leicester’s famous Premier League win in 2016, with Girona having finished tenth and 39 points behind champions Barcelona last season.

The man leading them to these new heights is manager Míchel, a relatively unknown 48-year-old Spanish manager who has previously managed the likes of Rayo Vallecano and Huesca.

He’s quickly establishing himself as a name to keep an eye on, with a claim from one of his players this week that he is in regular contact with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola via the club’s connections as part of the City Football Group.

It appears he’s been using that connection to his advantage and his boss believes there could be a pathway to the Etihad at some point, if he continues as he is.

“(He) has the talent to lead a big club like Manchester City (but) still needs time to get there to this type of benches,” Mundo Deportivo report Cárcel saying.

“City plays football that Míchel, with a smaller club, is being able to do. Although for him to train them, a lot of coordination has to happen, like Pep (Guardiola) making the decision to leave.

“(He’s) happy in the team, with a contract and with the desire to continue making the project great. The pressures in Girona are different from those he may have on a bigger bench.”

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A ten point deduction from the Premier League for their alleged breach of Financial Fair Play was akin to a body blow to the stomach in the tenth round from a heavyweight boxer. It was quick, powerful, and something Everton were wholly unprepared for.

In this particular analogy, Everton were the challenger completely out of their depth for the fight they were in and they’ve been punished.

None more so than the fanbase, who it’s fair to say have had a rough few years. Two straight years of close relegation battles, managerial changes including arch enemy Rafa Benitez in the dugout, an owner who has lost interest and soul sapping malaise have worn them down.

Football is supposed to be joyous, a release at the weekend from the working week and the stresses of normal, day to day life. For Everton fans, following their club has just been another worry, another burden to carry. Just as that burden appeared to be lessening, the joy returning, the Premier League struck.

Punishing the fans is unfair, or at least that’s what they told us when six of the Premier League clubs tried to destroy the English game as we know it.

When Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham tried to break away to form the European Super League, it was all about the fans.

Despite a move which would have destroyed the Premier League, left the rest of the clubs in financial ruin and threatened the entire football pyramid in England, it was the fans who we really had to worry about.

Many journalists, media personalities and ex footballers churned out the same decree, “you can’t punish the fans”. Except, it seems what they really meant is “you can’t punish some fans”. The rest are fair game. And they seemingly couldn’t wait to punish Everton fans.

To say the Premier League’s 10 point deduction is disproportionate is putting it lightly. Portsmouth only received nine points for going into administration. Manchester City haven’t received a single deduction or punishment for 115 various charges. They and the rest of the six who tried to break away were given a slap on the wrist and a combined £22m fine. Everton’s punishment is the biggest handed out in the history of the division. Disproportionate doesn’t come close.

Yes, Everton appear to have broken the rules. Even they don’t deny that, and they deserve to be punished for it.

But when the Premier League’s own evidence suggests they were a mere £20m over the allowed spending after being in special measures for several years, with every movement monitored and approved by the Premier League while fully complying with the investigation, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

Everton have essentially been punished for being honest, while other clubs with more money continue to obfuscate and dodge the issue, pushing it further and further away until it all blows over. That’s essentially what Manchester City did to dodge UEFA charges.

The feeling at Everton for some time has been that they wanted to make an example of them and they’ve certainly done that. It’s a Premier League publicity stunt.

Some will ask why, but the answer is an obvious one. The Independent Football Regulator. The Premier League have been fighting that for some time, determined to rally against the government’s desire for football to be monitored and controlled by anybody but themselves.

The Premier League don’t want that, and they never will. They want to govern themselves and do as they please with little oversight. They like their world and how they run it and it has to stay that way. Punishing Everton this severely is a sign of strength, a political message to the government that they’re fine as they are.

You see, Everton are an easy target. They’re one of the founder members, sure, but their power is limited. They’re not one of the top six and they won’t kick up a fuss like their neighbours across the park. They don’t have the voice, the media friends, perhaps even the willpower, to really stir the hornets nest. The Premier League have taken advantage of that.

So what if the fans are punished? They’re used to relegation battles by now. Everton and their fans will take it on the chin and get on with it. Like Wolves, or Fulham, or Crystal Palace or the ‘other’ clubs that the Premier League really don’t care about.

“You can’t punish the fans” they told us, again and again and again. The reality is that they can, they have and they probably will again.

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On Friday, the Belgian football association confirmed via X, formerly Twitter, that the 22-year-old ‘will leave the camp’.

The Everton player was left out of the squad during De Rode Duivels’ friendly win over Serbia earlier this week.

According to Voetbalkrant, Onana was training indoors while with the national team, due to the calf problem. He has been working in the gym and Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco was hoping to start him against Azerbaijan on Sunday.

However, the Toffees man’s latest setback will force the coach to look at other options for the upcoming European qualifiers.

It’s claimed the Belgium medical staff decided to release him instead of keeping him in the squad until the weekend.

Onana will return to Everton where he’ll be further assessed by the club’s medical staff to know the extent of the damage.

The Toffees host Manchester United on November 26th and Sean Dyche will be hopeful of having the Belgian fit for the next league clash.

Onana has managed a goal and an assist from 14 games this season.

UPDATE: Amadou Onana will leave the camp with a calf injury. pic.twitter.com/BRNBfsaOyH

— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) November 17, 2023

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The Spaniard spent six years at Liverpool between 2004 and 2010, and guided them to the Champions League success in his debut season at Anfield.

His spell with Reds saw his family settle in Merseyside and when Everton came calling in 2021, the 63-year-old accepted the job for both personal and sporting reasons.

The Toffees were forced to look for a new manager that summer after Carlo Ancelotti left them to return to Real Madrid.

Benitez was appointed as the Italian’s successor but his stay at Goodison Park was cut short in January 2022, after a series of poor results. Everton managed only one win in his last 13 league games.

When AS asked how a Liverpool legend ended up at Everton, he said: “I have many friends who are from Everton and I knew what I needed. It was a chance to be with family.”

“The problem is that after three years of bypassing financial control, we were only able to spend 1.7m [likely euros] that year. Of course, I came to doubt for sentimental reasons, you think about it a lot, but it was the possibility of making a team grow and many years had passed since my time at Liverpool.”

After his exit from Everton, Benitez returned to management, taking charge at Celta Vigo in the summer.

The La Liga side have managed only one win from 13 league games this season and are currently in the relegation zone.

The post “I knew what was needed” – Rafa Benitez explains what held him back at Everton, and why it wasn’t Liverpool betrayal appeared first on Sport Witness.

That’s why newspaper Record now brings a piece about Youssef Chermiti’s sale to Everton, showing the Lions have the chance to bring him back in the future.

According to the document, Sporting have the ‘right of first refusal’. That means that once the Toffees get offers for Chermiti and they feel they will accept them, the Lisbon club must be warned and given the chance to match them.

Even in case Everton sell the player to some other club, Sporting still get 12.5% of this future sale.

The report claims that the Toffees spent €12.5m to sign Chermiti, with potential other €2.5m in bonuses. There’s also been a payment of €1.2m on commissions.

Chermiti is still working his way up at Everton. Since his arrival, he made six appearances, but only really had 29 minutes in the Premier League, and has been mostly used in the final minutes of matches. The attacker is still 19, though, so there’s a long time for him to develop.

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Fast forward to November and Gazzetta dello Sport now state the Serie A side were open to parting ways with the 20-year-old, but ‘no good opportunities presented themselves’ in the last window.

The left winger, who can also operate as a wing-back, has been restricted to 113 minutes of action from four games this season. Due to this, he’s looking to leave the Serie A side in January.

His current situation at the Turin club hasn’t stopped him from receiving a call-up from England U21s for the ongoing international break. Iling-Junior could take advantage of his time with the Young Lions to attract the attention of clubs like Aston Villa and Everton.

It’s claimed the player has several admirers in the Premier League, where both Aston Villa and Everton could ‘take control’ of the situation.

Gazzetta suggest it would benefit the two English clubs to wait until next summer, when he’ll have a year left on his deal. They add that Juve, who aren’t convinced of selling the former Chelsea academy player, value him at €15m.

Iling-Junior would gladly return to England, as long as he’s assured of regular game time. Between Unai Emery’s side and the Toffees, he may have a better chance of enjoying more minutes with the latter.

The post Aston Villa and Everton could ‘take control’ of transfer – Player wants minutes, may favor Toffees appeared first on Sport Witness.

The manager has been speaking to the various media ahead of the upcoming international break, during which Onana will be a part of Belgium’s squad for clash against Serbia and Azerbaijan.

His availability for the games had been in doubt as he’s been struggling with a minor hamstring injury, which saw him miss the home draw with Brighton ten days ago and then leave this weekend’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace at half-time.

His departure from that game would have suggested he would not be available for Belgium’s games, with Everton and Sean Dyche clearly playing it safe with a player who is very much a key player for them.

Onana has travelled nonetheless, linking up with the rest of the squad this week ahead of their games tomorrow and next week.

It seems Belgium will be following Everton’s lead, though, with Tedesco insisting that they will be careful over the midfielder’s fitness.

“Jorne Spileers stays with the core. Saelemaekers, who we see as an alternative to Castagne, has a problem, the risk is too great,” he said.

“That is why we keep Spileers. We will try to have him available on Sunday. Onana? He only played one half with Everton.

“He could train but we are not taking any risks. We don’t have to. Maybe we will do with him as with Alexis so that he will be there on Sunday.”

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The move proved to be masterful, however, as the substitute ended up scoring the match winner in the 3-2 away win for the Toffees.

However, once the game was over, one of the first questions from the press to the Everton manager was about the half-time change, with Dyche revealing it was to do with the midfielder’s recent calf injury, which has since been somewhat confirmed by the player’s agent to RTL Info in Belgium.

Their concern will have primarily been about the upcoming international break with the national team and Onana’s importance to their plans, but it’s all good news, as Mélissa Onana said: “He’s doing very well. They’re just precautionary measures.”

This should, in turn, reassure Everton fans, who might have thought something more serious would come of it.

Onana, as he was last year, has been key to the Toffees and their attempts to climb up the table, as the Goodison Park side have not lost in the Premier League in their past three games, picking up six points from their last two away games against West Ham and Crystal Palace.

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That’s according to Inter Live, who say the player is very much on the Toffees radar thanks to his performances for Borussia Monchengladbach’s youth side.

We covered a report earlier this week that stated Everton were keen on Boteli, who has 12 goals in 10 games for Gladbach’s U19s so far.

That has led to interest from clubs around Europe and the report claimed Everton were providing fierce competition to Juventus for his signature.

Inter Live now follow that up and throw the Champions League finalists into the mix, claiming that they could enter the race for the youngster’s signature.

They explain that Inter could end up ‘trying to think’ about a deal for the Gladbach youngster as they are aware of the growing interest from Everton and Juventus.

According to them, both Everton and Juventus have instructed their scouts to ‘closely monitor’ the 17-year-old and his situation as he appears to be one of the most sought-after player on the youth market.

At the minute it doesn’t appear either side have made a move for him, but they may want to change that soon as new suitors arrive, including potentially Inter.

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That’s according to HLN, who cover comments made by the Everton man in a recent documentary aired by the Belgian Football Union.

Onana has been enjoying a rapid rise over the last 18 months after making a big money move from Lille, where he had been slowly establishing himself in the first team.

He was quickly thrown into the deep at Goodison Park, though, establishing himself as a key player under Frank Lampard and now Sean Dyche.

He’s proven to be worth the faith shown in him, with a series of impressive, dominant performances in the centre of midfield earning plenty of rave reviews and reportedly admirers from some of the top six in the Premier League too.

His performances have also made him a permanent fixture on the international scene, where Domenico Tedesco made him an immediate starter in his midfield too after replacing Roberto Martinez.

The future appears to be bright for the youngster, be it at Everton or somewhere else, but for now he insists he is simply living the dream.

“I have always been that little boy with a dream and that has brought me to this level,” hd said.

“At one point I thought my chances of becoming a professional footballer were over. That was difficult, but fortunately I received a lot of support from my family and I succeeded.

“When I look back at my past, I see a very beautiful story.”

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