HOTLINE It’s Ab fab at Toffees
EVERTON have moved closer to striking a deal with Valencia for central defender Aymen Abdennour.
An agreement could even be reached today, according to sources close to the Spanish club, with Ronald Koeman man ready to push the buttontton on a £14.5million offer fer plus add-ons.
Abdennour (above) is on standby to fly to England tomorrow if the finer details can be ironed out in the next 24 hours.
The 27- year- oldd Tunisia international, al, who holds a Frenchnch passport, joined Valencia from Monaco for around £17m last August.
He will arrive at the Toffees as a replacement for John Stones following his £ 47.5m transfer to Manchester City.
Chelsea considered a bid for Abdennour in January when it looked as if John Terry was on his way out. MIDDLESBROUGH are making a bid to gazump NEWCASTLE over Brendan Galloway. The Teessiders have matched the Magpies’ offer to Everton take the left-back on loan the season. for But the Toffees are unlikely to sanction a move from a Premier League club.
“That’s important because when you win the title, you reach a great level with your soul, your mind.
“Before games, I don’t sleep a lot. Maybe two, three, four hours.
“Then, when I wake up, I start to think about the game and the situation, and often I have good ideas about the tactical aspects in the first hour of the morning.
“After the game, when I win, I sleep easily. When I don’t win, it is very difficult for me.
“When I’m awake in the middle of the night I’m thinking, ‘Why? What is the reason we lost? What was the situation that made it more difficult? Which players made it more difficult? Was our tactical plan good or not good?’
“I need to try to find the reply quickly.
“Lately I have been lucky because I often won with Italy and Juventus.”
Former Juve midfielder Andrea Pirlo, who won three successive Serie A titles under Conte, calls his old boss “the beast with two wives”.
One is football, the other is Elisabetta, who accepts her husband’s nocturnal habits.
Conte added: “I have a great wife and daughter. They understand me.
“They know me, my passion, my habit to work a lot.”