Sunderland loanee Wahbi Khazri is finding his form again in Ligue 1 – and has been linked with a return to the Premier League with Everton.
Many Everton fans were a little suspicious of the appointment of Sam Allardyce. And their concerns may have been deepened when TEAMtalk claimed on Tuesday that the 63-year-old is planning to bring another of his former Sunderland players with him to Goodison Park.
The Sun stated that The Toffees are interested in Lamine Kone, the Black Cats centre-back who Everton bid £20 million for in the summer of 2016. The Ivorian’s form dropped alarmingly since then, however, and he is now not even a regular starter for a Sunderland side sitting in the Championship’s relegation zone.
And TEAMtalk claims that Everton are also on the trail of Wahbi Khazri, the Tunisian winger who arrived at Allardyce’s Sunderland in January 2016 and played a major part in their ‘great escape’ from relegation.
Khazri’s influence on Wearside was short lived, however. The former Bordeaux star barely featured as they finished bottom of the Premier League last season before being loaned out to Ligue 1 outfit Rennes.
But while Kone has been a lumbering mess at Sunderland, Khazri has got his career back on track this season. The 26-year-old has an impressive five goals in nine games in France’s top flight, helping Rennes up to sixth in the table.
And Everton should not judge Khazri by his difficult second season at the Stadium of Light. After all, David Moyes was hardly justified in leaving Khazri out of his team and, whenever the winger did feature, Sunderland looked a far better and more dangerous side.
Then again, with all the money at Everton’s disposal, supporters may feel that Allardyce’s latest transfer target is rather lacking in ambition.
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