Juventus midfielder Mario Lemina is the subject of interest from Everton, although they would have to pay around £17.7m.
Everton have been one of the most active clubs in this summer’s transfer market, spending just shy of £100 million to further Ronald Koeman’s ambitions of bringing Champions League football to Goodison Park.
Yet it appears that the spending has not stopped yet. According to FootMercato, The Toffees remain interested in Juventus midfielder Mario Lemina.
Lemina is good but perhaps not good enough for Juventus
The Serie A champions have a wealth of talent in central midfield with Miralem Pjanic, Sami Khedira, Claudio Marchisio, Stefano Sturaro, Thomas Rincon and even the versatile Kwadwo Asamoah fighting for a place.
As such, Lemina, who signed from Marseille two years ago, made just eight league starts last season and looks likely to leave this summer. FootMercato claims that Everton will battle West Ham, Bayer Leverkusen and Sevilla for his signature, while Tuttosport claim Juve will ask for around £17.7 million.
More money than sense?
The question, however, is whether Everton even need him. After all, they too have plenty of quality at their disposal in the centre of the park, the January addition of Morgan Schneiderlin supplemented by the rise of youngster Tom Davies.
Gareth Barry, despite reports linking him with a move away, was as consistent as ever in 2016/17 while the tigerish Idrissa Gana Gueye was one of the bargain signings of last summer.
In fact, the only real way a move for Lemina would appear to make sense is if Everton do find a suitor willing to pay £25 million for James McCarthy. The Sun claim that Leicester City had made an enquiry but were put off by Everton’s valuation of a player who spent most of last season in the treatment room.
James McCarthy
Swapping the out-of-favour Republic of Ireland international with a two-time Serie A champion may appear like a masterstroke to some.
But do Everton really need to spend big to reinforce arguably the strongest area of their squad?
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