The Sun are today claiming Everton are determined to try to sign Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey this summer.
Ramsey has been in protracted contract negotiations with Arsenal as we have previously reported. The paper is saying Everton are ready to make a serious move to land the Welsh international should he decide to leave the Emirates.
And a signing on fee of £15 million together with wages of £150,000 a week is being quoted. This sounds a lot like the rumours that were doing the rounds in the summer about Everton and another Arsenal player, Jack Wilshire.
That one came to nothing and he eventually signed for West Ham.
I suspect something similar will happen in this case too. I’m also not convinced that he would represent a good investment given his age and injury record.
The Blues should be looking at younger midfield talent, players that would fit in with the transfer strategy employed so far to date by Marcel Brands and Marco Silva.
One obvious candidate who fits that criteria is the 19-year-old Derby midfielder Mason Mount.
He has of course just broken into the England squad with his call-up for the recent UEFA Nations League games against Croatia and Spain.
And although he didn’t get much of a look in it shows that he has the talent and promise to catch the eye of England head coach Gareth Southgate, who has proved himself to be a pretty good judge of young talent.
It’s early days in his career of course but the youngster has been in excellent form this season scoring five times and providing an assist too. He’s a dangerous attacking player with that ability to make telling runs from midfield and score goals, something Ramsey has done throughout his career.
These are qualities in the middle of the park that Everton have lacked for some time. I don’t know how easy it would be to prise him away from Derby if the Blues wanted to and it may be too soon for the player anyway.
But one thing to factor in is that an England call-up and the added profile that will give him will likely make him a more expensive buy now.
The Championship can still be a fruitful place to look for talent despite the attraction of signing higher profile players from abroad.
One player who has had a high-profile recently and could still be worth considering is the Aston Villa player Jack Grealish.
Grealish was the subject of a late bid from Tottenham last summer as the transfer window came to a close. In the end that move didn’t happen and the 23-year-old stayed at Villa Park.
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It seems that the transfer speculation turned his head and has affected his game. He’s certainly not been as influential so far as he was last season for Villa.
Spurs may not be so keen to return and make another bid for him so that might make it possible for Everton to do so.
Grealish is certainly a talented attacking midfield playmaker and he would definitely add creative quality and goals to the Blues team.
And given that Villa have not had the best of seasons, at least so far, he could be available for less than the sums being quoted last summer when Spurs tried to sign him if the Villains are forced to consider selling him.