The AS Monaco midfielder has been marginalised in the Principality and would once again be a superb option for Everton.
It’s almost ten years since reports linking Joao Moutinho to Everton first emerged. However, after hitting 30, should the long-serving Portuguese playmaker finally make his long-awaited move to Merseyside?
Or, more prominently, should Everton consider renewing their interest after all this time? Since having an £11.8 million bid rejected back in the summer of 2008, per The Telegraph, The Toffees have frequently threatened to shatter the glass ceiling but only succeeded in leaving a few minor cracks.
Meanwhile, Moutinho has decorated his CV with three Portuguese league titles, a Europa League victory with Porto and the European Championship crown this summer. Whether Everton, under David Moyes or Roberto Martinez, would finally have made that substantial step up from sixth or fifth to the promised land of fourth with Moutinho pulling the strings in midfield, we’ll never know.
However, after falling out of favour at current club Monaco, making just nine Ligue 1 starts for the title challengers, this may be Everton’s final chance to land their long-standing target.
Ronald Koeman’s reshaping of The Toffees midfield is ongoing with Morgan Schneiderlin on the verge of putting pen to paper for £22 million, per the BBC, and the prospect of partnering the ball-winning Frenchman with the ball-playing Portuguese should make every Everton fan salivate in expectation.
With Gareth Barry 36 next month, Tom Cleverley and James McCarthy underperforming and linked with an exit, this may be the perfect time for Everton to finally make their move after 10 years of waiting.
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