Posted by By Taofeek Babalola on
Everton boss David Moyes is ready to offer Super Eagles defender Joseph Yobo a new contract to keep him at Goodison Park.
Everton boss David Moyes is ready to offer Super Eagles defender Joseph Yobo a new contract to keep him at Goodison Park.
The defender, 28, was Moyes' first Everton signing back in 2002 and the Scot is impressed with how Yobo's form has improved this season.
The Nigeria international had a wobbly start to the campaign but has now strengthened Everton's back four alongside Phil Jagielka. Yobo will have just one year left on his contract at the end of this season.
But manager Moyes said: "Joseph Yobo has improved in the last month or so and he's come back on to his game again," said Moyes. "He had a start to the season that was really mixed.
"We gave them a month off to recover and when they came back Yobo had the situation with his brother having been kidnapped. He was off for longer than the other but we had to put him in the team because we had no players. He wasn't in the right condition physically and certainly not in the right condition mentally.
"He's got himself focused now and he's been playing more like himself. Yobo has been part of what we've been doing here so we'd like to keep him."
Yobo became one of the most consistent players in the Everton squad, and was one of only seven players in the entire league to play every minute of every game throughout the 2006-2007 Premier League season.
The delay in 2006, in signing a new contract with Everton lead to rumours of a move to Arsenal, but on 22 July Yobo committed himself to Goodison Park until 2010. As of 15 April 2007 Joseph Yobo is the record appearance holder for an overseas player at Everton. For the UEFA Cup match against AE Larissa of Greece on October 25 2007, Yobo was named as captain in the absence of Phil Neville and thus became the first African to captain the club.