Everton were linked with Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in the summer before he was loaned out to Aston Villa.
With Everton sending scouts to watch Aston Villa blow away Burton Albion 4-0 on Tuesday night, speculation around the future of striking duo Keinan Davis and Jonathan Kodjia is growing already.
The Mirror claimed that Everton were in attendance at the Pirelli Stadium to watch highly-rated teenager Davis in action, the 6ft 2ins powerhouse opening the scoring with a bullet header to continue an excellent run of form that has taken him from promising reserve to first-team regular in a matter of weeks.
And the Birmingham Mail adds that Kodjia, who repaid his Championship record £15 million transfer fee last summer with 19 goals in an excellent debut season, is still being scouted by the men from Merseyside after first coming to their attention earlier in the year.
Considering that Everton are still crying out for a striker capable of replacing the goals of Romelu Lukaku, it is easy to see why The Toffees would be linked with Villa’s impressive strikers.
However, there is one other Villa player who was linked with Everton in the summer – goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. The Express and Star reported in June that The Toffees were keen on the 24-year-old before he returned to the Midlands for a second consecutive loan spell from Manchester United.
And though Everton eventually paid £30 million to land Sunderland star Jordan Pickford instead, per the BBC, Maarten Stekelenberg is hardly the most consistent of back ups while Joel Robles is expected to leave next summer when his contract expires.
Johnstone, however, has proven himself among the Championship’s best goalkeepers since first moving to Villa in January and, like so many of Everton’s recent signings, has plenty of potential and time to improve.
He’d be a fine back-up to Pickford, too. So maybe there was another reason for Everton’s trip to Burton in midweek.
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