• Premier League

Moyes in no rush to sign new Everton deal

David Moyes has been at Everton for a decade © PA Photos

Enlarge

David Moyes insists the Everton manager's job excites him as much as ever but he will not be drawn on when he will sign a new contract.

Moyes' current deal runs out at the end of the season and he is in no hurry to sign a new one, even though he has always declared that he is happy at Goodison Park.

His side are currently fourth in the Premier League ahead of Saturday's trip to Reading and have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 2005.

Everton have only played in the competition - either in its current guise or in the days when it was the European Cup - three times in their entire history, although they twice missed out as league champions in 1985 and 1987 because English clubs were banned from European competition.

Moyes is more interested in focusing on Everton's league form than his own future but he has indicated that he will be happy to sit down with chairman Bill Kenwright and discuss a deal later in the season.

"As far as I'm concerned, I've got a great relationship with the chairman," he said. "We speak every day. When the time's right, we'll sit down and have a look about what we're going to do."

The Toffees boss admits he can understand why Everton fans with long memories would be concerned about losing him, having seen Howard Kendall leave Goodison Park for Athletic Bilbao immediately after the club's last league title win in 1987.

"I can understand why people would say it's quite close [to the end of my contract]," he said. "All I can say is, look, I've been here more than ten years now. We've worked really hard together for the club and will continue to do so.

"We'll wait, and it might be that we'll wait until later in the year before we sort things out."

Moyes feels that his current squad is one of the best he has worked with in his decade at Goodison Park, adding that the job still excites him as much as it did when he arrived from Preston in March 2002.

"It's certainly one of the most exciting squads I've had," he said. "I've always been excited about being the manager of Everton. I think it's a great club, which has had great players through the years, and I think it's got good players this year."

The manager is also hopeful that Marouane Fellaini will stay at the club for the long term, despite reports linking him with Chelsea and Real Madrid.

"I keep getting asked the question about Marouane," he said. "I've said before, he's going to be very expensive if anyone wants to buy him. We don't want to lose him, that's for definite, and I don't think we will. I certainly don't think we will in the short term, that's for sure.

"He's been a terrific signing for us. We've not been able to buy at that range of the market very often, but sometimes when you can go out and get that level of player and that little bit of quality, it can make the difference."

Moyes also hinted that captain Phil Neville and defender Sylvain Distin are likely to be offered one-year deals to stay at Goodison Park. Neville, 35, and Distin, 34, are both out of contract at the end of this season.

"What I've said is that in time, we'll look at them," Moyes said. "They're both at a later stage in their career, and I will be recommending that both of them sign for at least another 12 months."

Kevin Mirallas will miss the trip to Reading with a hamstring injury but should be fit for the visit of Norwich next Saturday. Darron Gibson remains out with the thigh injury suffered during the 2-0 defeat at West Brom on September 1.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.