Man City set to go head-to-head with Tottenham for signature of Premier League midfield star

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Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have been given a huge boost in their respective attempts to land Everton midfielder James McCarthy during the transfer window.

The Republic of Ireland international is at the centre of a contract war with the Merseyside outfit, and fresh reports in Mirror Sport claim the player will not be offered a new deal.

McCarthy is said to want a pay rise which would seem him match the wages of new signing Tom Cleverley, who is reportedly on £50,000-a-week. However, the Toffees have no plans to offer the midfielder a new contract and could now face the possibility of losing him to one of their Premier League rivals this summer.

Spurs have been linked with a double swoop for McCarthy and his teammate Kevin Mirallas in recent weeks [via Express Sport] as manager Mauricio Pochettino looks to further strengthen his squad ahead of the new season.

The Argentine boss has been busy in the transfer market and his activity so far has been centred around bringing in defensive reinforcements with Kevin Wimmer, Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld all signing for the North London outfit.

Now it would appear Pochettino is keen to add a midfielder to the ranks at White Hart Lane as he looks to replace Paulinho and Etienne Capoue, who have both left the club in the past month for Chinese outfit Guangzhou Evergrande [via Guardian Sport] and Watford [via BBC Sport] respectively. Their departures have left Spurs a little light in the engine room.

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Entering the race for McCarthy is likely to bring strong competition from City, who have finally flexed their financial power with the acquisition of Raheem Sterling from Liverpool in deal worth up to a reported £49 million [via BBC Sport].

Last season’s Premier League runners-up have not had much luck in recruiting a central midfielder this summer as Fabian Delph decided to reject a move to the Etihad Stadium to stay at Aston Villa [via Mirror Sport], whilst the pursuit of Juventus star Paul Pogba appears to be over at least for this summer as his £71m price-tag has been deemed too expensive [via Telegraph Sport].

A move for McCarthy would certainly interest City given his homegrown status and the fact that he’s impressed many since arriving in England from Scottish side Hamilton Academical in 2009.

More Stories Etienne Capoue Fabian Delph James McCarthy Paul Pogba Paulinho Raheem Sterling