Everton’s McCarthy flattered by reported interest from United

Republic of Ireland international James McCarthy admits he’s flattered by the reported interest from Manchester United and has revealed just how close he came to joining Spurs last year.

New United boss Louis van Gaal is looking to strengthen his squad and the Everton midfielder is thought to be among those in demand.

“If a club like United are interested, obviously you’re doing a good job,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Recalling last summer when he was reunited with Everton boss Roberto Martinez on transfer deadline day, McCarthy said: “Tottenham didn’t come up with the money but Everton did within the last couple of hours (of the window closing). Obviously it was just one of those things with Tottenham.”

On the international front, the 23-year-old is desperate to make up for failing to reach the World Cup.

“Not qualifying was a big disappointment but now we’ve got this opportunity and, hopefully, we can achieve big things with the Euros. When we meet up in camp, we’ll get everybody focused on what we want to achieve. You want to qualify for big tournaments,” he said.