Season › 2013-14 › News Martinez hints at January departure for Heitinga Lyndon Lloyd , 2 December, 0comments | Jump to most recent Everton could allow John Heitinga to leave the club in January in an effort to "help him" in his quest for first-team football as the Dutch defender's contract winds down towards its expiry in June. Though manager Roberto Martinez says that, ideally, he would like to see Heitinga back playing for the Blues again and to have as "a big role on the pitch as much as he has off it," the 30 year-old has been overlooked in favour of John Stones when it comes to substitutions in the Premier League recently and has only featured in the League Cup this season. And Martinez has hinted that the club may find a way to accommodate the defender when the transfer window opens next month. "Johnny has been an incredible professional since day one," he is quoted by Sky Sports. "He has been a big influence in the way we wanted to work. "Johnny is a top footballer and we can understand if he doesn't play many minutes we will try to see if we can help him in January. "We all want Johnny to play and participate on the pitch but that is something we will have to assess over the next few weeks." Heitinga has been linked this week in the Italian press with a move to Fiorentina. Quotes or other material sourced from Sky Sports About these ads © ToffeeWeb