Premier League outfit Everton want a box-to-box midfielder but the seemingly West Ham United-bound Amadou Onana may be too expensive at over £30 million, as reported by The Athletic.
How is it the old cliché goes? Games are won and lost in the middle of the park? If that rings true, it’s no surprise Everton spent much of 2022 fretting about the prospect of Luton, Reading and Bristol City visiting Goodison Park.
The fact that Fabian Delph was Everton’s most in-form midfielder throughout the final few weeks of last season tells it’s own story. Allan simply isn’t mobile enough to play the ‘number six’ role in front of a defence with all the consistency of a soggy blancmange.
Abdoulaye Doucoure’s form fell off a cliff after the turn of the year. Tom Davies has plateaued. And as for Andre Gomes…
Well, we’re still not sure what it is the former Barcelona playmaker actually does on a football pitch.
Idrissa Gueye and one other for Everton
Idrissa Gana Gueye’s Goodison Park return, then, is bound to be very well received. Even if he is the wrong side of 30 these days.
According to The Athletic, Frank Lampard and director Kevin Thelwell believe the PSG misfit still has the energy and the physicality required to thrive amongst the hustle and bustle of the Premier League.
Gueye is unlikely to be Everton’s only midfield addition between now and September, however. Lampard also wants a barnstorming, box-to-box powerhouse – one presumably in the Doucoure mould.
Lille’s colossal asking price means Onana is probably out of Everton’s reach, however. After failing with a number of early bids, West Ham struck a deal on Wednesday to sign the Belgium international for £35 million (The Sun).
Everton are already working on a limited budget this summer. And the £20 million arrival of Dwight McNeil wiped out much of Lampard’s bank balance. Even with Richarlison’s departure bringing in £60 million, don’t expect the Toffees to splash out £35 million on one player over the next few weeks.
Wolfsburg’s Aster Vranckx is another, perhaps more affordable, name on Everton’s hitlist. He appears to have no interest in leaving the Bundesliga this summer, however.
Liverpool hero Gini Wijnaldum, meanwhile, sensibly opted against taking the Rafa Benitez route. Gueye’s fellow PSG benchwarmer will join Jose Mourinho at Roma instead.
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