As Everton face Huddersfield Town in the Premier League we take another look at some less high-profile players the Blues might want to consider signing.
One player at Huddersfield that Everton should take a look at is centre-back Christopher Schindler. The 27-year-old German has enjoyed an excellent first season in the English top-flight.
Although the Terriers have conceded a lot of goals this season, Schindler has been outstanding. If the Blues want a tough-tackling and consistent defender who ranks highly in all the key defensive attributes, Schindler ticks the boxes.
Again statistics aren’t everything but he scores very highly in all those areas that matter most for a defender; tackles per game, clearances and aerial duels won. His passing accuracy is also good at 81%.
Schindler looks like he would be a very good replacement for Phil Jagielka, as he’s a similar type of defender.
A player who is probably on the radar of several clubs, maybe including Everton, is Watford’s midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure.
Watford have enjoyed another solid mid-table Premier League season and while most of the attention was focussed on the Brazilian forward Richarlison, Doucoure has been consistently excellent.
Doucoure is a very solid all-round midfielder. Defensively he is strong making tackles, interceptions and clearances, and in attack he has scored 7 goals and made 2 assists.
Looking across the channel again and searching for an attacking midfielder who can contribute goals and assists and who would probably be more affordable, then another player to consider is Lyon’s Nabil Fekir.
The Frenchman has netted 22 goals and made 7 assists with a passing accuracy rating of over 85%. But he does have a bit of a disciplinary problem having picked up 10 yellow cards.
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Sticking with Lyon and a promising teammate of Fekir’s is the 19-year-old Houssem Aouar. He is a versatile and effective all-round attacking player who has scored 6 goals and created another 5.
Aouar can pass accurately, dribble and also contribute defensively playing upfront.
That quality might help if Everton want to play a more effective pressing game and pressure opponents higher up the pitch.
This is something Everton have done very little of this season and when they have tried to do it have struggled to get it right.
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It’s never certain whether these types of players can and will adapt and re-produce that form in what would be a tougher league, especially in the case of a teenager, but you won’t know without taking a punt.