Joel Robles confirms Everton exit

Having fallen to third in the pecking order at Everton, goalkeeper Joel Robles has confirmed that he will be leaving Everton at the end of this season, or even earlier if an offer comes in for the player in the January transfer window.

Speaking to Spanish site Cadena Ser recently, Robles has admitted his frustration at not getting any playing time under Ronald Koeman this season. The comments below are translated from that interview by IB Times.

"I am in my last year of my contract at Everton and this will surely be my last season at Everton because I made the decision not to renew.

"It's been a complicated season but this is football. These situations happen. You have to be calm, keep fighting and wait for the opportunity. It is not easy but I have to be patient."

Koeman’s stance has always been that he wanted three starting calibre goaltenders on the squad, and even added the Spaniard to the 25-man Premier League squad as well as the 27-man Europa League roster. However, the only way Joel will get to play is if one of Jordan Pickford and Maarten Stekelenburg picks up a knock.

Pickford has played in all the Premier League games with the Stekelenburg starting in the Europa League and Carabao Cup fixtures. Joel meanwhile has played in one game for the Under-23s and was on the bench for the League Cup win over Sunderland last week.

With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Everton would like to sell the player in January for something, but it’ll be hard to get any money for the player without giving him some game time for suitors to scout the player.

At the same time, if the Blues choose to sell the 27-year-old in the winter transfer window, it would leave them one short in the squad, with youngster Mateusz Hewelt next in line.

Robles however wants to have a conversation with Koeman about opportunities before then.

"My target from now to January is to fight for the manager to give me an opportunity [to play]. If this is not the case, we will have to sit down on 1 January and assess the options."

"If there are offers from Spain it might be interesting to return. The Premier League is also a very nice league. I love it. In January we will have time to discuss that but now I have to be focused on working to convince the boss to give me a chance."

Joel’s fall from grace was completed towards the end of last season following a series of critical mistakes. He was signed by Roberto Martinez before the 2013-14 season, and has featured in 63 games for the Toffees in that time, conceding 73 goals and picking up 24 clean sheets.