FA Cup

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Attendance: 52,513

FA Cup | Third Round

Jan 5, 2018 at 7.55pm UK

Liverpool
2-1
Everton

Milner (35' pen.), van Dijk (84')

FT(HT: 1-0)

Sigurdsson (67')

Sam Allardyce: 'Cenk Tosun may be involved against Liverpool'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 04 January 2018

Everton manager Sam Allardyce hints that supporters may get their first glimpse of Cenk Tosun at Anfield on Friday night, as he is expected to be included in the squad.

Sam Allardyce has admitted that he is tempted to throw Cenk Tosun straight into Everton's squad to face Liverpool if he completes his transfer in time.

The finishing touches of a £27m deal are being made and official confirmation from the Toffees and Besiktas is expected to be given at some point on Thursday.

Everton head to Merseyside rivals Liverpool on Friday night in the third round of the FA Cup, and Allardyce is keen to get an early look at his imminent arrival.

"I think it's personal terms - it is the final stage," he told reporters. "After some long negotiation we've got to that stage now. So that might happen before the cup. We might even get him ready before the cup if we're lucky, but I think there's a medical to go through so that might be tight. Securing the player is the biggest concern.

"[It] depends on his overall fitness. We wouldn't want to risk damaging him [against Liverpool], in terms of he hasn't trained for a few days. There's lots of mental energy you burn waiting for the move you want. That assessment will come from the medical or fitness staff.

"The pedigree that he has. What he has shown, the age he is. We've not got that many players in that elite block of age in our squad. Hopefully he will come to the club and show he is good value for money. If we get the transfer done and he is successful for us by scoring goals it will be an exceptionally good deal for us.

"We've searched high and low for a long time at the club before I arrived. This one was one we focused on as quickly as we can. We're trying at the moment to cure one of the areas where we have a problem. It's a huge pressure on the lad, I hope he can live with it, we all do. There's no guarantee you can hit the ground running."

Everton have netted just one goal in their last four matches, having scored in each of their previous eight.