Premier League strugglers Everton reportedly want to sign Czech Republic international Alex Kral from Russian outfit Spartak Moscow.
Alex Kral might resemble a fresh-faced version of David Luiz but that is where the similarities end.
One of the rising stars of Czech football is a tenacious young midfielder rather than a ball-playing centre-back but, if reports are to be believed, he could be about to join his blue-clad doppelganger in the Premier League sooner rather than later.
Three top flight clubs are keeping close tabs on Kral, according to ClubCall, with Everton very interested in a player who has already earned seven caps for the Czech Republic national team at the age of just 21.
He starred, a bundle of energy and tenacity, as Jaroslav Silhavy’s men ended England’s ten-year unbeaten run in European Championship qualifiers earlier this month, swarming all over Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson.
But what do the stats tell us about a player who, outside of the Czech Republic, remains something of an unknown? Well, there’s a reason why Spatak Moscow invested £10 million in the Slovakian-born enforcer when signing him from Slavia Prague earlier in the summer.
Gueye’s replacement?
In total, Kral has averaged 2.8 tackles per game since joining Spartak. Tellingly, that is more than any of the midfielders currently in Marco Silva’s squad with Delph and Jean-Philippe Gbamin (2 per game) his closest challenger.
Morgan Schneiderlin (1.7), Tom Davies (1.3) and Andre Gomes (1) don’t come close.
As any Everton fan will tell you, the Toffees have looked lightweight and vulnerable in midfielder ever since the irrepressible Idrissa Gana Gueye sealed a dream move to PSG for £30 million over the summer, a problem which has been exacerbated by Gbamin’s injury issues.
Kral might be more than just ‘one for the future’.
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