Atletico Madrid

According to media reports, Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has identified Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone as his No.1 target to replace Ronald Koeman. The Toffees climbed out of the relegation zone over the weekend thanks to a thrilling 3-2 win over Watford at home, with David Unsworth temporarily put in charge of affairs after Koeman’s sacking.

While one can say never say never in football, it looks unconceivable that Simeone would want to leave the Wanda Metropolitano for Goodison Park, with Everton potentially fighting a relegation battle. Or it could mirror the strategy adopted by the men in charge at West Ham, who said that their No.1 target for replacing Slaven Bilic was Carlo Ancelotti before settling for David Moyes as the Croatian’s successor.

The most likely candidate to replace Koeman seems to be veteran Sam Allardyce, a man who has a proven record of steering his teams out of relegation dog fights and keeping them up. The only issue seems to be a potential £2m compensation to Crystal Palace, Big Sam’s last club. The Eagles have an agreement to receive that fee should the 63 year old return to formal management with two years of leaving Selhurst Park ahead of the 17/18 season

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