James not fazed by big price tag
Republic of Ireland midfielder James McCarthy (left) with team-mate James McClean. Picture: David Maher/SPORTSFILE
JAMES McCARTHY says he's dealing with the pressure of having a big price tag following his move to Everton.
Martin O'Neill remarked earlier this week that Connor Wickham struggled to deal with the burden of being an £8m player, but the fee of £13m that Roberto Martinez paid for McCarthy has not fazed the 23-year-old.
"There's always talk of the price tag but, to be honest, it's part and parcel of the game and you need to get on with it," says the Everton star.
"It's a good club to be in and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
"We've had a good start and we want to stay as high as we can. It's not going to be easy. It's a brilliant club and, with the good squad we have, we can push up there, we can be competing.
"It's a big difference to competing to stay in the league each year, to be trying to push for European places.
"It's a brilliant club. There's a lot of the squad away on international duty and it's always a huge boost if a lot of your players are away.
"It shows you that you have a good squad."