Everton have been chasing the Italy international for some time but the pursuit appears certain to end in disappointment.
Everton look set to miss out on yet another transfer target, with Manolo Gabbiadini choosing the coast of Castellon and Valencia over Goodison Park, Football Italia reports.
The Toffees, boosted by the riches made available to them by majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, took their first tentative steps into the mainstream market in the summer but were turned down by the likes of Lucas Perez, Moussa Sissoko and Rachid Ghezzal, with the club’s lack of European football proving a sticking point.
Since then, a strong start to the season under Ronald Koeman has been replaced by a difficult period of results, with Saturday’s draw with Swansea doing little to banish the memories of their 5-0 thrashing by Chelsea prior to the international break.
And part of the problem appears to be the overreliance on Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian has scored just shy of half the team’s Premier League goal this season while Arouna Kone, Oumar Niasse and Enner Valencia have managed just 84 minutes of top flight action between them.
Consequently, speculation intensified that Everton were hoping to reinforce their ranks with classy Italian forward Gabbiadini, with talkSPORT reporting that the Merseyside club had hoped to reignite a deal in January after showing initial interest in the summer.
However, Football Italia have claimed that Valencia have now jumped ahead in the pursuit of the in-demand striker, with the player keen on a switch to Spain where he is likely to find regular first-team football due to Los Che’s lack of a natural centre-forward.
While these developments may be taken to indicate Everton’s lack of pulling power, there is no reason to suggest that Gabbiadini would be the answer to all, if any, of Koeman’s problems.
The 24-year-old is a skilful, technical attacker with an eye for the spectacular. But, on the flipside, he drifts out of games with regularity, lacks any sort of forceful character and, as he has proven at Napoli, struggles to fit into a high-tempo 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation – the kind preferred by Koeman at Goodison Park.
Furthermore, Gabbiadini’s defensive contribution is severely lacking. If the straight-talking Dutchman is willing to publically lambast homegrown favourite Ross Barkley for his perceived lack of work rate, what chance him actively choosing to bring in a player marginalised by his former boss, Maurizio Sarri, due to his inability, or unwillingness, to fit into the system?
And that’s without mentioning the tally of 2 goals in 12 appearances in all competitions this season. Everton may have money to spend these days, but spending it wisely is a must.
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