Everton will be looking to replace Idrissa Gueye following his big-money move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Leon Osman has claimed that Everton already knew they were going to sell Idrissa Gueye this summer and there was perhaps a ‘gentleman’s handshake’ in January agreeing to him leaving the club.
In January, Gueye was close to making a move to Paris Saint-Germain, but a move didn’t materialise. Instead, he made a £30 million switch to the French champions on Tuesday, as reported by BBC Sport.
Marco Silva has added two midfielders to his squad this summer. One of them being Andre Gomes – who was on-loan at the club last season, and the other being Fabian Delph.
Speaking to the Monday Night Club on BBC Radio 5 Live (29/07/2019 at 9:15 pm), Osman thinks his former side planned for Gueye’s departure and the signing of Delph was an example of that.
“I think the fact that they went out and bought Fabian Delph early doors, they got a bit of good business done there,” Osman told BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think the writing was always on the wall.
“I think Idrissa Gueye was linked with PSG in January. There was a real concern we would lose him then without any real cover. I think maybe a gentleman’s handshake was done, I am not exactly sure. But it’s as if it was known and the reinforcements were brought in before he was allowed to speak to another club.”
Whilst a player like Delph can bring some bite to Everton’s midfield, he’s not going to be able to replace Gueye in the middle of the park ahead of the new campaign.
More than likely, Silva will need to bring in another defensive-minded midfielder to try and replace the Senegal international because he was pivotal to how the Toffees played.
It could be argued that Gueye was perhaps Everton’s most important player. He protected the defence and allowed the forward players to do their job. He played in such a unique position and no-one in the squad could provide what he provided to the team.
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