Koeman: Jagielka will not leave

Phil Jagielka will not be allowed to leave Everton this summer, manager Ronald Koeman has said.

Everton have already lost John Stones to Manchester City and Koeman has made it clear that Jagielka will be staying at Goodison Park amid reports that Sunderland are keen on the defender.

"He is the captain of the team. I need four good centre back. There is no way that Jags will leave the club," Koeman told reporters ahead of their season opener against Tottenham.

Everton completed the signing of Ashley Williams from Swansea earlier this week and Koeman is hoping to bring in 'three or four' more players before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

"We have three new signings and we will do business for three or four new players," Koeman said.

Romelu Lukaku and Seamus Coleman are doubts ahead of the season opener against Tottenham and the Dutchman has revealed that it will be a couple of weeks before his team are where they need to be.

“Of course it is always nice to start the season, but we are not at the level we need to be at,” he said.

“Not in terms of players, and not in terms of physical states.

“In a physical sense, I think we are 70% of what we need to be. We are working hard to improve, but that's a different way of training and thinking about football and the level in the Premier League. We need to improve.

But OK, the team will be strong on Saturday. We are playing against a really strong team, that has not had a lot of changes. That's always positive and good for a team. We don't have that, but it is football, and you can win against everybody.

"Our situation is more difficult to the situation of Tottenham, if you compare that. But OK, we will see what we can do. It is always good to have a good start.

"We all know that the squad is not the same now as it will be at the end of the month."

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