Everton keeping tabs on striker Maja

Reports have emerged recently that suggest that Everton are keeping a close eye on promising Nigerian striker Josh Maja.

Everton could do with having some extra depth up-front, despite Dominic Calvert-Lewin penning a new long-term deal with the club, and Nigerian international Josh Maja could provide that.

According to Le Parisien, via HITC, Everton and Chelsea have been keeping tabs on the former Sunderland youth product as recently as the January transfer window.

Maja left the former Premier League club in the 2019 January window in a deal worth in the region of £3.5 million, becoming a regular feature for Les Girondins.

The 21-year-old has made 20 appearances in Ligue 1 for Bordeaux, with 15 substitute appearances and playing a full 90 minutes just three times.

Despite seeing the majority of his playing time coming off the bench, Maja has scored five league goals and has added a couple more in cup competitions during his first full season in the French top tier.

Across the Ligue 1 season, Maja has an expected goals per 90 rate of 0.47, quite impressive considering he has played just 633 total minutes in league competitions, earning less than ten minutes of playing time in seven appearances.

The English-born striker also made his international debut for the Nigerian national team back in September, in a 2-2 friendly against Ukraine, showing signs of a truly promising future ahead of him.

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With the Toffees seeing success with Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin playing together up-front, it is only sensible that manager Carlo Ancelotti looks to add a promising young prospect into the first-team squad to develop and provide competition and depth.

At 21, he still has a long way to go in his development and could even find himself sent back out on loan even if Everton were to sign him on a permanent basis, allowing him more time to develop before being brought back to Goodison Park to compete.

He is currently valued at £6.3 million by TransferMarkt and isn’t likely to be an overly expensive investment if the Italian manager is impressed enough by his pacey, direct style of play.

What do you think though Toffees fans? What sort of signings should the club be making in the summer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!