Everton’s £7m masterstroke should tempt Toffees to follow up interest in Aston Villa pair

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Everton are reportedly interested in Aston Villa strikers Jonathan Kodjia and Keinan Davis one year after signing Idrissa Gueye from the same club.

Recent reports hint that Everton’s search for Romelu Lukaku’s replacement during the January transfer window may well see the Toffees getting in contact with Aston Villa about a potential bid for, at least, one of their strikers.

The Daily Mirror reported that the Toffees had scouts attend the Villans’ game with Burton Albion to watch Keinan Davis, while the Birmingham Mail suggested that Everton had been in attendance to watch summer target Jonathan Kodjia.

Kodjia has enjoyed an excellent spell at Villa, having scored 20 goals in 41 Championship games for Steve Bruce’s men, while Davis’ form gave fans something to smile about during a lacklustre start to the campaign, and he has continued to impress now that Villa appear to be back on track.

With a number of summer signings yet to really hit the heights, Ronald Koeman may be hesitant about turning to two players who have not played in the Premier League as he looks to bolster his attacking options – but perhaps one brilliant piece of business involving the same two clubs should tempt Koeman into moving for either Kodjia or Davis.

Idrissa Gueye moved from Villa to Everton in the summer window of 2016 for a fee of just £7 million (via Daily Mail), and that deal has proved to be an absolute bargain for the Toffees, with Gueye proving to be an integral part of the squad.

Gueye had played in the top flight before making the move to Goodison Park, but he was playing in a Villa side that would arguably fail to beat the current team, and thus, his move may have seemed to be a gamble at the time.

With Everton’s goalscoring options so thin, it would be foolish to suggest that simply signing one of the pair would rectify the Toffees’ problems, especially if the one they go for is the much less experienced Davis.

But the success of the Gueye deal should persuade Everton to try and repeat the trick and look to include Davis or Kodjia amongst the cluster of strikers they surely need to bring in as soon as possible.