Thursday, 14th August, 2014
Everton manager Roberto Martinez has played down talk of the club swooping to sign former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o, but is not ruling out further additions to his squad.
Martinez has just snapped up Christian Atsu on loan from Chelsea for the season, however Eto'o has been linked with arriving to boost his attacking options.
Eto'o, who is available on a free transfer since leaving Chelsea, is on the lookout for a new club and has attracted interest from Ajax, AC Milan, Roma and Monaco.
"I would say that we are now in a position where I'm desperate to see how the team react in the first game of the season", Martinez told a press conference, when asked about Eto'o.
"But I think you always have to use the window to your advantage.
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"In terms of the squad that we have, I'm delighted with what we've achieved and what we've got.
"We will use the period now until the window closes to assess the squad and help the squad if we need to", he added.
Everton managed a finish of fifth in the Premier League last term and Martinez is looking for his side to maintain their standards in the new campaign, while adding Europa League football into the mix.
"It [success] would be to maintain the level that we showed last season with the extra demand of European football", explained the Spaniard.
"It's about replicating what we did last campaign, with the group being a year wiser, a year older and a year more experienced in the way that we want to play, and making sure that we embrace the Europa League and use our potential, but not finding it an obstacle week in, week out, for the domestic league."
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