The Blues are reportedly eyeing a move for the Sunderland defender.
According to the Daily Mail, Everton are eyeing up a £15 million move for Sunderland defender Lamine Kone.
The Blues are expected to be busy in the summer transfer window courtesy of the backing from shareholder Farhad Moshiri.
The defence may be one area that manager Ronald Koeman looks to improve given how poorly that area of the team performed last season.
They also look likely to lose John Stones in a big money move to Manchester City, so a replacement will be needed.
And according to the Daily Mail, they have identified Kone as the man they want.
But would Kone represent an improvement on their current options? We took a look at the stats from Opta to find out.
| Position | Team | Won Tackle per Game | Effective Head Clearance per Game | Duel Won per Game | Aerial Won per Game | Appearances | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Jagielka | DF | Everton | 1.33 | 3.95 | 5.29 | 2.76 | 21 | 1,851 |
| Ramiro Funes Mori | DF | Everton | 1.11 | 3.25 | 4.93 | 2.71 | 28 | 2,191 |
| John Stones | DF | Everton | 1.09 | 2.27 | 4.45 | 1.61 | 33 | 2,779 |
| Lamine Koné | DF | Sunderland | 1.07 | 4.27 | 5.67 | 3.27 | 15 | 1,315 |
And as it transpires, despite playing just 15 games since joining Sunderland in the January transfer window, Kone was better than the current Everton defenders in four key areas.
On a per game basis he managed to post more tackles, more effective headed clearances, more defensive duels won and more aerial duels won.
It remains to be seen if Kone swaps the Stadium of Light for Goodison Park this summer, but on this evidence he could be a smart signing.
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