Everton made a bid for Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure in the late stages of the transfer window, but failed to get a deal done.
Everton’s display against Aston Villa showed exactly why Marco Silva was aiming to sign Abdoulaye Doucoure on deadline day.
Everton had a £32 million bid rejected for Doucoure by Watford, according to the Telegraph, as the transfer window entered its closing stages.
The French midfielder has actually been in poor form for Watford so far this season, and gave away a penalty at the weekend.
But Everton’s need for him was all too clear against Aston Villa.
The Toffees lost 2-0 at Villa Park, and their performance was extremely poor.
The midfield combination of Morgan Schneiderlin and Andre Gomes did not work at all, with both players so poor out of possession.
Everton had gaping holes in their midfield throughout the game, which Villa exploited.
It is a worry that a side who have only just come up into the Premier League had so much joy up against Everton’s midfield, and there are real issues for Silva to work on.
The question is whether Everton have a player like Doucoure, who can sit in front of a defence and offer solid protection.
Fabian Delph and Jean Phillipe Gbamin both could potentially fill the void, but they are slightly different to Doucoure in their style.
Delph is all energy, while Gbamin is still clearly adjusting to English football, and has just been ruled out with injury for at least eight weeks.
It is now becoming abundantly clear why Silva targeted one more central midfielder for Everton this summer, as Doucoure could have been just what they needed.
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