Journalist Paul Brown has expressed his shock that Everton have made an approach to appoint Roberto Martinez and let him continue as Belgium manager.
The Toffees are trying to appoint a successor to Rafael Benitez after sacking the Spaniard over the weekend.
What’s the latest with Everton?
The club have slipped alarmingly down the Premier League table.
They are 16th in the table and have won just one game in their last 13 fixtures, beating Arsenal in a raucous Goodison Park atmosphere.
Everton have subsequently been looking to bring in a new boss who can steady the ship and, ultimately, guide them away from the danger of the relegation zone.
The Toffees were initially heavily linked with a potential move to reappoint Martinez as their manager, who spent three years at the club between 2013 and 2016 before being sacked.
Martinez is currently managing Belgium and is preparing for the 2022 World Cup, when he will hope to potentially lift silverware with one of the biggest international teams in European football.
The Guardian reported on Monday that Everton proposed a deal that would have allowed Martinez to continue managing Belgium until the end of the season, as the Red Devils have just one international friendly prior to the campaign’s conclusion.
There was no desire from Belgium to acquiesce to that request, though, and have blocked the approach, despite the Spaniard’s apparent willingness to return to Merseyside.
And Brown believes that such an offer is proof of just how “desperate” the club have become as they look to find Benitez’s successor.
What did Brown say?
Speaking to GiveMeSport, the Daily Star journalist said: "That just seems like complete madness to me and shows how desperate they are, really."
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Is Brown right?
Yes.
It’s pretty simple, but there’s little reason for Everton trying to bring Martinez in and also allowing him to manage Belgium at the same time.
Managers have to give their full focus to their clubs at all times and he would not be able to do that with this unusual approach.
Still, it is somewhat understandable that the club have tried to bring him back.
The Toffees finished fifth in 2013/14, going within seven points of Champions League qualification, and then finished 11th in the two successive seasons after that.
He would be a steady pair of hands but the nature of Everton’s approach does prove the club’s sheer desperation to bring a new manager into the club.