Season › 2015-16 › News Funes Mori given go-ahead for Olympics , 25 May, 30comments | Jump to most recent Everton appear to have granted permission to Argentina for Ramiro Funes Mori to play in both the Copa America and the 2016 Olympic Games this summer. The Argentine football federation had requested special dispensation from Everton to use the defender as one of their over-23 players for the Games in Rio in August which would mean Funes Mori missing the start of the 2016-17 season. And Funes Mori, a regular in Argentina's senior international side who is already part of his country's squad for the Copa America in June, has been included in their 35-man provisional squad for Rio. Reader Comments (30) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Liam Reilly 1 Posted 25/05/2016 at 07:31:26 Forget that we may not have adequate cover in central defence if Stones does depart; but let that not stand in the way of being a nice family club. Colin Glassar 2 Posted 25/05/2016 at 07:40:48 What a lovely gesture. So nice of us to fall over ourselves to make the players happy. Mike Green 3 Posted 25/05/2016 at 07:50:43 I don't see how this is any different to releasing players for the African Cup of Nations, comes with the territory to an extent doesn't it? Steve Bingham 4 Posted 25/05/2016 at 08:17:02 Panic not comrades . Not long now and we will have a plethora of quality players covering every possible position.. Just need a manager to arrive and oversee these purchases. Peter Carpenter 5 Posted 25/05/2016 at 08:41:47 No loss there. Franny Porter 6 Posted 25/05/2016 at 08:57:52 Should this decision not have been left to the incoming manager? Marty MacDonald 9 Posted 25/05/2016 at 09:15:47 I've no idea why we would allow a player to be absent for the start of the season when we could simply have said no to Olympic Games participation. Perhaps we were afraid Funes Mori would throw a tantrum and down tools. Damian Wilde 10 Posted 25/05/2016 at 10:19:14 No Mike it doesn't, as the Olympics isn't a big football tournament. Kim Vivian 11 Posted 25/05/2016 at 10:24:53 And he gets injured. Stroll on... Nathan Jones 12 Posted 25/05/2016 at 10:26:05 I'd like know who makes these decisions as we have no manager in place. 2 new centre backs required now. Brian Porter 13 Posted 25/05/2016 at 10:49:40 This is good for Funes Mori, as it can only be good for him to gain further international experience at tournament level, and in the long term will benefit us also as the coaching he receives from the Argentinian coaching staff should quickly 'de-Martinez' his defensive play. This lad is going to be a very very good footballer and he should return a much better defender than when he leaves. He's already established himself as a regular for one of the top nations in international football and this will only help to enhance his reputation.Good luck to him and let's hope he serves as a great ambassador for Everton at the Olympics. Nick Entwistle 14 Posted 25/05/2016 at 10:56:50 Brian, the guy is 25, not 20. You sound like you work for the IOC! Steavey Buckley 15 Posted 25/05/2016 at 11:01:10 Everton will kick off the next season without 2 recognised centre backs. If Jags gets injured, there will be none. Situation is getting worse by the day until Everton appoint a new manager. Liam Reilly 16 Posted 25/05/2016 at 11:44:11 Brian # 13"....de-Martinez' his defensive play"Nicely done. Brian Porter 17 Posted 25/05/2016 at 11:45:39 Yes, Nick, he is, but he's been a latecomer to the international stage so the more experience he can get, the better as far as I'm concerned. Nick Entwistle 18 Posted 25/05/2016 at 11:54:36 A minor U23 football tournament isn't an experience, it's a holiday. Either way, doesn't bother me he's playing. Keith Harrison 19 Posted 25/05/2016 at 12:14:26 Everton rate him as 'being dangerous in both boxes'. That's why he wasn't playing on the last day. If someone comes in with £25 mill for him as has been quoted, snap their hands off. Or play him up front instead of Niasse. Kieran Kinsella 20 Posted 25/05/2016 at 12:41:18 We are putting him in the shop window Sam Morrison 21 Posted 25/05/2016 at 14:11:18 I never understood people raving about Funes Mori. He's regularly beaten in the air and the amount of air kicks he does it looks like he's performing a can-can in installments. Alan Humphreys 22 Posted 25/05/2016 at 15:45:25 Galloway, Browning and Pennington should suffice. The latter equipped himself well at the tail end of the season. Hopefully Browning recovers well and pushes the first team again. John Campbell 24 Posted 25/05/2016 at 18:17:32 Can Niasse play at the back? Helen Mallon 25 Posted 25/05/2016 at 18:18:34 And what if he gets bit by a mozzy? Phil Hoyle 26 Posted 25/05/2016 at 21:01:18 Be cautious about writing him off. I remember the one season we had with Marco Materazzi and many did not rate him. He went on to play at a really top level, scoring in a world cup final and winning one. I remember him being criticised at Everton (along with Olivier Dacourt) which was under the Walter Smith regime. I know we are craving success but pull back on the knock downs. Peter Laing 27 Posted 25/05/2016 at 21:07:24 He's a bit mental, prone to making a mistake but also decent on the ball, quick and scores goals - more than any of our other Centre Backs. Tony Hill 28 Posted 25/05/2016 at 21:10:38 He's had one good half and one bad half. He plays for Argentina and does well. Given that he's been managed by one of the worst defensive coaches in premier league history, I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt. Or are we all Tim Vickery now? Helen Mallon 29 Posted 25/05/2016 at 21:32:05 Well said, Tony Hill. Sam Morrison 30 Posted 25/05/2016 at 22:13:49 I'm Tim Vickery! Peter Fearon 31 Posted 28/05/2016 at 15:02:32 I hope nobody in the world of international football minds if he is fit enough to play well for us at some point. I would prefer that our players get some rest, come back fit - not completely enervated - at the start of the season. Funes Mori may as well not turn up in August if he is going to play non-stop all summer in the US and Zika-drenched Rio. Ciaran Duff 32 Posted 29/05/2016 at 23:56:34 Football at the Olympics is a joke. I remember going to see a game at the Sydney Olympics between Spain and Italy. Mostly all no-names kids like Xavi, Pirlo, Gattuso. Wonder whatever happened to them? Hmmm. Ciaran Duff 33 Posted 30/05/2016 at 00:09:22 Okay, on a more serious note, I do rate Ramiro Funes Mori. He may not be the end product but for his first season (and a fairly late signing at that) in the EPL, I think that he has done well. He is obviously highly rated by Argentina too with him being a regular in the international team where he has done okay. Regarding the Olympics and the Euros, I think that we will start the season with a number of players who have had little or no break this summer. No doubt that this could affect our start to the season in the same way as the post WC14 did. I would hope that we are prepared for this. We certainly have a lot of young talent coming through who combined with experienced players (like Jags, Baines, Barry) who may be useful for the start of the season to give players a chance to recover as well as transitioning young players into the first team. 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