According to reports originating in the French football press, Everton made an unsuccessful bid for the Lille defender Gabriel during the January transfer window but were not successful.
This story follows on from yesterday’s article when we mentioned the continuing rumours that Everton might want to explore signing the Napoli forward Hirving Lozano, possibly in the summer window.
Now French sites claim that Gabriel is another player the Toffees, along with his other suitors Arsenal, will go back in for later this year.
The young centre-back was apparently on the Gunners radar as well and supposedly both clubs made failed bids for him in January.
Gabriel is a 22-year-old player with the kind of attributes that Everton might well consider as being right to meet the Blues need for further central defensive reinforcements.
He looks a very solid natural defender with particular strengths such as his ability to block and clear the ball. He’s also the right sort of age for the kind of player that the Blues would be interested in signing.
Of course, as always, these stories and rumours are difficult to judge with any accuracy. So it’s probably more than likely that this is just another one originating with the player’s agent.
In other news several Everton players are opening up about the increasing influence of manager Carlo Ancelotti on them as individuals and the team overall.
Alex Iwobi tallks about the ability of Ancelotti to affect the players subtly and how similar he is to the former Arsenal’s man ex-boss, Arsene Wenger.
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Iwobi sees a lot of likeness between the Frenchman and his current manager at Everton. In particular he is impressed with the quietly methodical approach of the Italian that he says so closely resembles Wenger.
Another Toffees player who is appreciating the impact of Ancelotti’s approach and tactical acumen is the Brazilian forward Bernard.
Bernard mentions how Ancelotti has instinctively understood that the diminutive Brazilian thrives best when he able to play in a more central attacking role. This is how he played during his successful time at Ukrainian side Shaktar Donetsk under his then manager, Paulo Fonseca.
All these little vignettes give an interesting insight into the continuing affect Ancelotti is having and the increasingly positive vibes that is being reflected in the team’s performances.