Everton strongly associated with move for Traore
There have been a number of stories in the last few days that have heavily linked Everton with a new move for the Lyon striker Bertrand Traore.
Several papers and online sites have run with this story claiming Everton are in talks to agree a deal for the Burkina Faso international.
Traore would seem a good fit for the Blues given his qualities and strengths. He is a mobile and versatile forward who is at his most effective playing either up front or wide right.
He hasn’t scored a lot of goals last season but he’s still young and shows plenty of promise and presumably would be available for a reasonable price.
That versatility would also seem to be particularly important to Marco Silva in his ambitions to create a more flexible and effective frontline.
Traore has also spent quite a lot of time in English football as he spent several years in his youth at Stamford Bridge.
And that background might also help him to make a quick impact if he in fact joined the Toffees this summer.
Interestingly his transfer to Chelsea as a teenager is at the heart of the current transfer controversy that has led to the London sides current transfer ban, now covering the next two windows.
Given that Everton are trying hard to prise Kurt Zouma away from Chelsea, (a move possibly in part hampered by that ban), and bring him back to Goodison Park permanently that is more than just a bit ironic.
So signing Traore would create some kind of symmetry if nothing else.
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In other news Andre Gomes has been speaking about why he decided to sign for the Blues.
Quoted on BBC Sport, Gomes says that he felt immediately at home when he joined Everton and could relax after what had proved to be a fraught time at Barcelona after his big money move from Valencia.
He is also determined to help his new club push on and try to secure European football as well as challenging the top six. Amen to that!
Gomes comments will be welcome news to Evertonians who certainly took to the stylish Portuguese midfielder last term. Roll on next season when we will hopefully see the best from Gomes.