Carlo Ancelotti agrees to become next Everton boss as Toffees board fork out huge wages

Posted Thursday, December 19, 2019 by Express.co.uk

Carlo Ancelotti agrees to become next Everton boss as Toffees board fork out huge wages (Image: GETTY)

Carlo Ancelotti has agreed to take the vacant Everton job, replacing Marco Silva at the Goodison Park helm.

Carlo Ancelotti will become Everton’s next manager after agreeing to take over at Goodison Park, being handed ￡11.5million-a-season in basic wages. The Italian has been identified by majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri as the man to steady the ship and get Everton’s hopes of becoming a fixture in the top six back on track.

The Toffees currently languish just three points above the Premier League relegation zone and found themselves in the bottom three at the time Marco Silva was sacked earlier this month.

The Portuguese left after 18 months in charge with just four wins in 15 top-flight games and nine losses, with interim manager Duncan Ferguson coming in to lead them to a win over Chelsea and a draw away at Manchester United.

With the Scot on the touchline, Everton were beaten in a penalty shootout by Leicester City in the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night after having come from 2-0 down and scored a stoppage-time equaliser.

The Daily Mirror suggest that Ferguson’s stint at the helm is however set to come to an end with Ancelotti having penned a three-and-a-half year deal worth a massive ￡11.5m per year.

Ferguson will remain on the touchline for the Merseyside club on Saturday when Arsenal visit Goodison, although Ancelotti could be confirmed as the new manager by then and is likely to be in attendance in the stands.

The 60-year-old - a three-time Champions League-winning manager who has won titles in four different countries - will then take over by Boxing Day for the visit of Burnley.

Ancelotti’s wages, on a contract lasting until June 2023, will make him the joint-fourth highest-paid manager in world football, alongside Rafa Benitez who earns the same amount a year at Dalian Yifang in China.

The only three higher paid coaches are Diego Simeone, who pockets ￡13m a year at Atletico Madrid and Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, who rake in ￡15m and ￡20m at Tottenham and Manchester City respectively.

Ancelotti’s earnings will be ￡3.5m-a-year more than Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp while Ancelotti’s predecessor Marco Silva was thought to earn around ￡3m annually.

He was only sacked by Napoli last week, where he earned around ￡5m (€6m), after having overseen a run of eight games without a win across all competitions before a 4-0 Champions League win over Genk.

The veteran coach was relieved of his duties just hours after that match with the Serie A club having been embroiled by off-pitch issues this term.

Everton were quick to make contact and held face-to-face negotiations with Ancelotti on Tuesday in London this week, promising that he will be fully backed in the transfer market.

The Blues cannot officially announce his appointment until he agrees a severance package with Napoli, amid suggestions the Premier League side would have to pay the Italian club a fee if they wanted to do so before Ancelotti sits down with Aurelio De Laurentiis.

Sky Sports pundit and Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has however warned Everton fans not to get too starry-eyed over ex-Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich boss Ancelotti.

He said: “I’m surprised that Ancelotti would take the Everton job, the position that they’re in in the league. I think for Everton to get a manager of the calibre of Ancelotti would be an unbelievable coup for them.

“I think [owner Farhad] Moshiri when he came in, the first real manager he appointed was Ronald Koeman and he mentioned that he wanted a, I think the words he used were Hollywood manager, because basically Liverpool have got Klopp down the road, Pep Guardiola is in Manchester, Mourinho was at Manchester United at the time.

“I love the fact that he came into Everton and was thinking on that level, getting Everton back up to that level.

“I have no problem with them trying to go for Ancelotti. From Ancelotti’s point of view, I’m not sure he’s the man to do the job that Everton need if I’m being honest.

“I think this is a manager who has managed the top clubs in world football. I think the first club he had, Reggiana, they were in Serie B, that’s a long time ago.

“You can imagine the energy, the intensity, he’s got to make his name, in football then gets him those bigger jobs. What he does Ancelotti, he takes really good teams and he just adds a little touch to it which takes that next step, especially in the Champions League.”

On the task awaiting Ancelotti, Carragher continued: “I think the job for any Everton manager is can they get them in and around the Champions League places, where they’re actually challenging?

“About 10 years ago Everton were in the position Spurs were, fifth or sixth. Spurs made that jump, got the new stadium, now almost recognised as a Champions League team.

“That’s where they’d like to be. They know how difficult that would be. I think the real target for Everton and realistically is can he get Everton to be a consistent top six club as they were under David Moyes?

“Could they maybe make that next step of winning a cup that Everton have gone so long without?

"I just hope, I’ll say this, the Hollywood manager they thought they were getting in Ronald Koeman, who I think is a good manager and has been a good manager, he didn’t suit Everton.

“He lacked that intensity for the club, that that club needs. That’d be my one worry with Ancelotti, with him having such a great career, the age he’s at now, coming back to a job he’s probably not done, certainly not for a long time, going back to the start of his career.

“That’d be my worry for Everton. In terms of CV, rightly so you’d want a man like that and I’m sure the Evertonians are ecstatic.”