Dyche lined up to deliver for Everton

Everton are set to appoint former Burnley boss Sean Dyche as their new manager. The club quickly moved on to the second name on their shortlist after talks with ex-Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa failed to produce a successful conclusion.

Dyche was always a contender – although seemingly behind the 67-year-old Argentinian.

It is understood he will be confirmed this weekend as the man the club have put their faith in to guide them away from a second successive relegation battle after nine Premier League defeats in 12 matches cost Frank Lampard his job.

The 51-year-old spent 10 years at Burnley, winning two promotions from the Championship and securing a seventh-place top-flight finish to take the club into Europe, but was sacked last April with the Clarets embroiled in an unsuccessful relegation battle.

Dyche is understood to have sanctioned the departure of winger Anthony Gordon, with a £40 million deal, plus £5m of add-ons, thrashed out with Newcastle.

Gordon was absent from training for three days before returning on Friday.

Dyche has been linked with the Everton job before, most recently after Carlo Ancelotti’s departure in 2021 before Rafael Benitez’s appointment.

“Proper club, we all know that and it’s got a proper feel about it,” he said in November.

“The People’s Club, it always feels to me. I think I have a feel for that because of my history in the Premier League.”

Everton’s dilemma in their deliberations was wanting a manager who could arrest the terminal decline since 2015 and reestablish the consistency seen in 11 years under David Moyes and have an immediate impact to get out of their current predicament.

It was reported Bielsa, who flew into London for talks on Thursday, wanted to bring eight members of his backroom team and not take over the team immediately but work with the under-21s and academy before assuming control in the summer.

That scenario, the financial package associated with it and his earlier suggestions he did not believe Everton’s current squad was suited to his methods persuaded the club to move on.

Dyche, who may have been criticised for his style of football at Turf Moor but worked wonders on a limited budget, fits the bill – even if he is a selfconfessed Liverpool fan.

One of the advantages he has is that there are three of his former Burnley players – James Tarkowski, Michael Keane and Dwight McNeil – in the Everton squad.

Asked in November what a good job looked like, he added: “You just feel like a club has a solid base to it, a solid core. I call it a heartbeat to the club.

“You’d arguably need some kind of finance – no one has magic dust. But the biggest thing is look at what you have got first and mould that into a team that can compete.”