With no game again for Everton this weekend, in an interview with the Liverpool Echo manager Marco Silva talks about wanting to sign on-loan defender Kurt Zouma in the summer.
So should Everton be looking to sign those players like Zouma and Andre Gomes who have been on loan at Goodison Park this season?
Lets look at the French defender first of all.
Zouma signed on deadline day last August and was regarded as a good last-ditch steal by the Blues.
The France international has been unable to nail down a regular starting place at Chelsea despite his obvious talent. Zouma certainly has the natural tools to be a top draw centre-half.
With his pace, strength and power he should be a regular starter at virtually any Premier League club. However Zouma has too often seemed surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.
So he arrived at Goodison Park and promised to add some more depth to the Toffees central defensive options. Alongside Phil Jagielka, Michael Keane, Mason Holgate and another summer signing Yerry Mina, Zouma’s presence gave Everton plenty of options, on paper at least.
But he arrived injured and so was unable to make any contribution early on. When he finally was able to make his debut, Zouma seemed to confirm the optimism about his joining the club.
Early in the season the Toffees had been very inconsistent in their defending. Coming into the team, Zouma produced some very solid performances at the heart of the Blues defence alongside Keane in particular.
However recently the Frenchman, along with other Everton players has been less certain in his defending and individual errors have been creeping back into their efforts.
This inconsistent form is very frustrating but is an example of perhaps why he has failed to hold down a regular place in the Chelsea team.
So it is difficult to know whether it would be a good decision for Everton to sign Zouma long-term. This is especially the case if the fee is exorbitant. And given Chelsea’s habit of ridiculously over-valuing their players, that is highly likely to happen.
I’m personally not certain it would be worth signing him to a permanent contract even if that is possible. He does seem to be a player who could thrive with a settled, regular partner in defence but it’s a difficult to be sure he would prove a sound investment.
So what about Gomes?
The Barcelona midfielder also arrived right at the death of the 2017 summer transfer window. He was a player that was not very well-known to most English football followers.
He also couldn’t come straight into the team due to injury problems, – (just a quick question but why do Everton sign so many injury-prone footballers!?), but when he got his chance he initially impressed a lot of Blues fans with his self-confidence, ability on the ball and passing vision.
He seemed to provide the Toffees with a player that the side have lacked for a long time. The kind of footballer that can provide a different level of creativity to his team’s attacking play.
But again, as with Zouma, his performances have tailed off too in recent weeks and months. His influence has diminished significantly and that has surely been a factor in the recent decline in the Blues goal scoring threat.
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This is again hard to fully understand. Is it something to do with the tactics or leadership and motivation coming from the manager? Or is this inconsistent form again simply a consequence of the player’s own deficiencies.
Gong forward though I would be inclined to say that Gomes would be worth a punt and the Toffees should seek to sign him this summer, unless again Barcelona want too high a fee. Anything over about £25 million would seem prohibitive to me.
Players of his type are rare in modern football and he can provide a creative dimension that frankly the Blues don’t have in any of their other midfield players. In addition I very much doubt Everton could find another player of his type who would be affordable and whom the club could attract.