Aiden McGeady has five months to plead his case for a starting place to Martin O’Neill.
Five months and three clubs, according to Everton boss Roberto Martinez.
McGeady is in dire need of first team football and Martinez has made no secret of the fact that the Toffees are willing to allow the winger to leave on a loan move with three clubs having enquired about his availability.
“We’re going to just work together with Aiden and his representative and we’re going to make the right call,” Martinez said in Tuesday’s press conference.
“There have been three enquiries actually. It’s going to be over the next couple of weeks when we’re going to make the final decision.
“It’s a really busy period but we want to make sure we get the right call.”
There were rumours that McGeady’s former club Celtic were interested in the 29-year-old but that his wages were acting as a stumbling block.
Martinez revealed that, of the three interested clubs, two were competing domestically but that any move for McGeady and international teammate Darron Gibson would be on a temporary basis.
He said: “It will be a short-term deal so Aiden can play football, finish the season really strong. Then he’s got involvement with the Republic of Ireland.
“At the moment there is [one] opportunity to go abroad and the other two are domestic. We are at an early stage.
“It would be a loan until the end of this season and both players (McGeady and Gibson) would be returning and competing strongly in pre-season with a view to the next campaign.”
