Everton and West Ham United have joined Southampton in the race to sign £20 million-rated Celtic play-maker Olivier Ntcham, according to 90Min.
Three years after the France U21 international swapped Manchester City for Glasgow, no one seems entirely certain about how to judge Ntcham’s Celtic career.
On his day, there is not a midfielder in the country who can rival the 24-year-old for pure technical ability.
Ntcham in his play-making pomp can stroll through a game without breaking sweat, pulling opposition defences apart like wet tissue paper with one swish of his right boot.
But therein lies the problem.
His tendency to ‘stroll’ through games have invoked inevitable questions about a perceived lack of work-rate and his commitment to the cause. Publicly expressing a desire to leave Celtic and Scottish football as a whole have not exactly endeared him to supporters either.
And such concerns should raise few alarms for an Everton side who looked short of energy, thrust or even desire in the centre of pitch during a miserable end to the 2019/20 Premier League season.
90Min claims that the Toffees are battling West Ham for Ntcham’s £20 million-rated signature.
One of the most divisive footballers in Celtic’s recent history certainly has the raw talent to thrive south of the border but, while he can just about get away with drifting through games in a dominant Celtic side, passangers will not be tolerated at Carlo Ancelotti’s underperforming Everton.
It speaks volumes that Ntcham played just 30 minutes of football in Celtic’s first two games of the 2020/21 season too.
Neil Lennon has made it painfully clear that the Frenchman has fallen behind Ryan Christie, Callum McGregor and Scott Brown in the pecking order.
“He’s a highly gifted player,” Lennon’s predecessor Brendan Rodgers told the Sun in 2017. “He’s got really good technique, good pace, good awareness.
“Now he’s getting that consistency.”
Three years on, however, Celtic fans would dispute whether ‘consistency’ is a skill Ntcham has ever come close to mastering.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
