Champions League beckons as James McCarthy tells Everton he wants to leave

The Ireland international is not at all happy with starting the season in reserve.

James McCarthy reportedly met with senior Everton officials on Friday to set out his stall for 2016/17 - either he gets a fair shake from new boss Ronald Koeman or he looks elsewhere for regular football. Koeman has started the season with Gareth Barry and Idrissa Gana Gueye as his main midfield pairing while McCarthy's role has been reduced to bit parts. He did get a midfield start against Yeovil, midweek, but has been left out of the squad to face Stoke today. The Daily Mail claim McCarthy wants to leave Goodison Park. The 25-year-old had a poor start to Euro 2016 but flourished in Ireland's final two games when he was chosen as the midfield anchor, ahead of Glenn Whelan. Newcastle, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Watford and, most intriguingly, Celtic are all in for the £20m-valued midfielder. While McCarthy may wish to remain in the Premier League, a season-long loan move to Celtic would pitch him right into the mix of at least 10 big games. Brendan Rodgers' side have been drawn with Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach in their Champions League group. Throw in the four Old Firm games and Ireland's World Cup Qualifiers and McCarthy could have an action-packed, high-profile season. At 26 next summer, and with Champions League exposure, he could earn Everton a much higher sell-on fee, or command a starting spot in their midfield. Massive Dublin v Kerry preview in the latest GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes