Marco Silva reportedly wants to reunite with Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure at Everton, but he struggled in the Premier League defeat to Manchester City.
Abdoulaye Doucoure might have scored his first goal in 30 Premier League games to give Manchester City an almighty scare on Tuesday night but the Watford midfielder was still a long way from his 2017/18 peak.
The Frenchman might have been playing against elite opposition in Pep Guardiola’s City, who eventually triumphed 2-1 at Vicarage Road thanks to goals from Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane, but it was surprising to see him look so out of his depth.
Doucoure was extremely wasteful in possession at times and looked all at sea against the high-pressing style of the City slickers. In fact, the former Granada man hasn’t been at his best for a while now.
And it was the sort of display that makes something of a mockery of reports that Everton could aim to make him their marquee central midfield signing in the January transfer window.
The Mirror claimed last week that Marco Silva was ready to make a move for his former Watford powerhouse with Doucoure understood to be valued at a hefty £40 million.
But with Watford fans taking aim at their out-of-form 25-year-old on Twitter, Doucoure hardly looks like an ideal partner for Andre Gomes on this evidence.
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