Despite plenty of football still to be played this season, Everton are keeping one eye on the summer with reports of them watching Marash Kumbulla.
The centre back position is one that Everton need to address in the summer transfer window, with the departures of Phil Jagielka and Kurt Zouma occurring without replacements in 2019.
This has left the Toffees with Michael Keane, Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate as the only first-team quality players competing for playing time, with the need to add depth and competition something manager Carlo Ancelotti appears to be interested in.
According to TransferMarkt’s Nicolò Schira, the Blues have been keeping tabs on Hellas Verona’s promising young centre back Marash Kumbulla.
The 20-year-old Albanian has impressed greatly for I Gialloblu in their first season back in the Italian top tier after securing promotion from Serie B via the playoffs in 2018/19.
Scouts of #Inter (are looking also Juan #Musso), #BorussiaDortmund and #Everton are at Dacia Arena to observe Marash #Kumbulla (2000) during Udinese-Verona. #Verona ask €30M. Also #Napoli are really interested in him for summer. #transfers #BVB #EFC
— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) February 16, 2020
The club impressively sits sixth in the Serie A standings and boast the fourth-stingiest defence in the entire league with just 24 goals conceded – something only Juventus, Inter Milan and Lazio have bested.
Kumbulla, a strong ball-playing defender, has shown strong distribution skills despite only turning 20 earlier this month, completing 84.2% of pass attempts, with 545 completions in the league to date (averaging over 30 per match).
As a defender, he has won 33 tackles and successfully intercepted opponents 25 times in 18 league appearances for the Italian club.
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Despite his tender and fairly inexperienced age, Kumbulla’s strong performances at club level has seen him briefly make an appearance for the Albanian national team, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute back in October during a 4-0 away victory over Moldova in Albania’s European Championship qualifying campaign.
He has become a regular starter for Ivan Juric‘s side, only missing a few matches earlier in the season due to injury and a brief one-match suspension.
With Everton having very little depth at the centre back position, Kumbulla could be the ideal addition to provide competition and stake a claim on the team’s starting eleven.
His young age would suggest he is more of a long-term development project/investment, but his impressive performances in one of the top leagues in Europe suggests he could fit in perfectly fine at Goodison Park.
What do you think Everton fans? Are you intrigued about the club’s possible interest in Kumbulla? What other players would you be interested in seeing the club target at this position in the summer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!