Injured Mykolenko to miss rest of seasonpublished at 14:55
14:55
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Everton defender Vitaliy Mykolenko will not play again this season after damaging ankle ligaments in the 2-0 win over Liverpool.
The 24-year-old, who has made 28 appearances for the Blues in the Premier League this season, was substituted at half-time of last week's Merseyside derby.
A club statement said left-back Mykolenko had been assessed by a specialist and will not need to have surgery, but did not put a timescale on his recovery.
Everton are 15th in the table and guaranteed their top-flight safety with a 1-0 victory over Brentford on Saturday.
'Salah maybe stays - because that's the most sensible move'published at 14:49
14:49
Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman believes that a culmination of things involving Liverpool and Mohamed Salah has made the whole situation "very intense".
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, Osman said: "This spat [against West Ham] has been a terrible timing for the whole situation Liverpool are in.
"With them falling out of the title race, with Jurgen Klopp leaving in the summer, with the potential of Mo Salah leaving."
New York Times journalist Rory Smith said: "Regardless of what happened - with Klopp, with the new manager, with the title race and with the four trophies - there would have been a conversation over whether this would be Salah's last season anyway.
"The big problem for everyone involved is: if I'm Mo Salah, who is 31 and in very good nick, do I want to go to Saudi Arabia? Probably not.
"It was different last summer when that first wave of players went. They could pretend it was exciting and new and they were building the game in one of its great frontier lands.
"If you're an athlete who thinks of themselves at the absolute peak of their powers, I'm not sure whether you go [now].
"If Salah doesn't go to Saudi Arabia, I don't entirely know where he does go."
The Egypt forward's contract runs out in the summer of 2025, when he will be 33, and Smith added: "Salah maybe stays - because that's the most sensible move. He won't feel as though he's ready to go to Saudi Arabia."
Where does Alexander-Arnold fit as a defender?published at 14:05
14:05
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter Simon Stone has been answering your questions.
Gary asked: Have teams caught on to the fact that Trent Alexander-Arnold is not the greatest defender, and can Liverpool and England afford to take a chance on him defensively?
Simon replied: I think we have known for a while Alexander-Arnold is not the most watertight when it comes to tracking runners or holding his position in transition. The question is whether his abilities on the ball, which are exceptional, balance that out.
I am still uncertain. He can clearly step into midfield as has become the trend in the Premier League. But would I pick him in midfield for England? I am not sure about that given the players we have there.
I would definitely have him in my squad for the Euros but he is not starting ahead of Kyle Walker. It is slightly different with Liverpool because you can construct a squad that covers his weaknesses.
'Everton are the story of the season'published at 13:15
13:15
Mike Richards
Fan writer
So there we have it. Against all odds, we have secured our Premier League status with plenty of room to spare.
The past week has been one of the most un-Everton like weeks I have known. Faced with three home games in six days, the majority of Evertonians never would have envisaged that we would win all three, especially after 'that' performance at Chelsea.
Relegation rivals beaten, local rivals outfought and a message of congratulations from Green Day. The past seven days have had it all.
It is only right the bulk of my words are reserved for the manager and players.
Greeted with points deductions, ownership uncertainty, national ridicule and everything in between, they have shown incredible togetherness when it would have been much easier to wilt under the most intense of operating conditions.
Everton are the story of the season and the success of the season. They deserve immense respect and plaudits for what has been achieved.
Sean Dyche deserves manager of the season.
Some will laugh at such a suggestion, but I would not trust many other managers with our club currently. There is not much more praise I can give than that.
The anger we all feel towards the Premier League will take a long time to subside. Being hung out to dry, made an example of and being used in a battle against independent regulation would have destroyed many clubs.
Thankfully, we are made of much stronger stuff and Goodison Park rightly gets her final season swansong exactly where she should do.
'Everton are bigger than battling relegation'published at 11:43
11:43
After finishing 16th in 2021-22 and 17th in 2022-23, Everton have spent another season fighting for survival in the Premier League.
However, the Toffees did manage to secure their top-flight status for another year, despite receiving an eight-point deduction for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.
Former Blues midfielder Leon Osman has been discussing the club's ambitions on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, stating: "Battling relegation is not the plan for the team or for the club.
"We are bigger than that - we feel that we are bigger than that - but you have to actually get the results on the pitch.
"What always makes it more difficult is the instability we have had. We had seven managers in seven years before Sean Dyche. So you are going to find it difficult to get momentum, keep momentum and move forward.
"Our managers for the most part - barring Carlo Ancelotti who left to go to Real Madrid - left because they had been doing a bad job and they had been sacked or moved on.
"Sean Dyche's first role last season was to keep the club in the Premier League. The next step, after he had managed that on the final day, was to rebuild the club and make progress - but then he was hit with all of the points deductions.
"He has actually made a stride forward. We would be on 44 points, which would probably get us about 12th or 13th place at the minute, had we not had those points deductions.
"We aren't the easiest team on the eye at times. We are not the team that is going to win games by having more possession than the opposition. We are good at what we do - set pieces, defensively and on the counter-attack."
Mohamed Salah's contract at Liverpool runs out in summer 2025 and there has been speculation about his future - including talk of a possible move to Saudi Arabia - following his touchline spat with manager Jurgen Klopp at West Ham on Saturday.
However, Liverpool's stance has not changed - the Egypt forward was not for sale before the Hammers game and that remains the case as things stand.
Owners Fenway Sports Group recently appointed the Reds' former sporting director Michael Edwards as chief executive of football.
Richard Hughes will also become the club's new sporting director when he leaves his position as Bournemouth technical director at the end of the season and Salah's future will be one of the things on their agenda.
'Dyche has done an extraordinary job this season'published at 09:46
09:46
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New York Times journalist Rory Smith has hailed the "extraordinary job" Sean Dyche has done at Everton this season.
The Toffees were deducted eight points across the campaign for breaching Premier League financial rules, but have achieved safety with three games to spare.
"Dyche deserves huge amounts of credit for what he has done at Everton," Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.
"What he's done this season has been fantastic.
"Given where Everton were, everything he has had to deal with and the fact the club's finances were - and are - in such a state that he could not really reinforce last summer, it's hugely impressive.
"They have taken 44 points - if you add on the points they have been deducted - which would have them comfortably mid-table.
"They were poor for two or three months in the middle of the season, but they have found a way to respond to it. He's done an extraordinary job this season."
The prospective takeover of the club by 777 Partners, however, is another issue that has dragged on throughout the season and Smith believes the uncertainty over the club's future means Dyche is unlikely to be able to significantly build on this season's performance.
"The reason things have been like this at Everton for so long is that they have spent money appallingly in vast sums and they are still paying the price for that," he added.
"I'm sure Sean Dyche will be sitting at home wanting to think about how he can get the club into the top half next season - but he can't think like that because of the two potential ownership groups.
"Farhad Moshiri seems to have checked out completely. He has run the club into the ground and was reliant on money from someone who is no longer allowed to put money into the club.
"And nobody thinks 777 is a good idea because there is something clearly very unsettling to the Premier League about that takeover option.
"Unless something else appears on the horizon, Dyche will probably go into next season with roughly the same aim as he did for this: ensuring they don't get relegated."
Gossip: Salah expected to stay at Liverpoolpublished at 07:24
07:24
Liverpool fully expect Mohamed Salah to stay this summer and are planning for next season on the basis of the forward still being part of their squad. (Athletic - subscription required), external
Incoming sporting director Richard Hughes will lead talks over a new contract for Salah, whose current deal runs until 2025. (Times - subscription required), external
Crystal Palace's £55m-rated defender Marc Guehi is of interest to Liverpool, as they seek a replacement for Joel Matip, who is set to leave when his contract runs out in the summer. (Football Insider), external
Premier League clubs vote to consider spending cappublished at 18:00 29 April
18:00 29 April
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Premier League clubs have voted in favour of adopting an anchoring economic model, which will be linked to the earnings of the bottom club (tv and prize money).
The proposed system would operate like a spending cap.
The next stage is final analysis and drafting of rules, which will potentially be put to clubs at an AGM in June.
The model will be presented to clubs and - should clubs vote in favour then - it will replace the Profit and Sustainability Rules currently in place, from the 2025-26 season onwards.
Any new element of the financial system would come in shadow next season, to fully replace PSR in 2025-26.
“We will obviously wait to see further details of these specific proposals, but we have always been clear that we would oppose any measure that would place a ‘hard’ cap on player wages," said the PFA
“There is an established process in place to ensure that proposals like this, which would directly impact our members, have to be properly consulted on.”
Image source, Getty Images
