Is Under right for Everton
With various unending transfer rumours continuing to circulate, is Cengiz Under the ideal candidate to solve the issues on the right of the Everton midfield?
It’s been increasingly clear for a long time that one of the positions that Everton need to strengthen as a matter of urgency, is the right hand side of midfield.
Carlo Ancelotti is it seems, committed to continuing with his 4-4-2 formation and that means he needs to urgently improve his options in the wide areas, especially on the right.
The current choices there are basically Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi or perhaps Tom Davies, although Davies looks very much like a fish out of water when playing wide.
Neither Walcott or Iwobi have convinced though. Walcott, despite his obvious talent, has consistently failed to live up to his potential both at Arsenal and now Everton. He sometimes works hard and shows occasional glimpses of what he can do but its been too little too late.
As for his former Gunners team mate Iwobi, he too has flattered to deceive both at the Emirates and now having joined Walcott at Goodison Park. Although to be fair to him, he has had a serious injury and hasn’t always played as much as he might have expected.
Iwobi is also younger and I think he could still fulfill his potential with the Blues. But he also much prefers playing on the left and that’s where I would see him contributing to Everton’s cause.
There have been plenty of rumours about who else the Toffees might look at to fit the bill and Turkish international Under is one of them.
He is currently plying his trade with Roma in Italy’s Serie A, just like another player that the Toffees have been heavily liked with, Lorenzo Pellegrini.
The 22-year-old plays mostly on the right of Roma’s midfield or attack and he has the sort of strengths that the Toffees require, being creative and chipping in with goals.
In fact Under has scored three goals in just 9 Serie A games and is also a left-footed right-winger, which is something that will be of particular interest to Ancelotti who favours that combination. Perhaps he’s hoping he will have a similar impact to that of another left-footed former Roma forward currently on Merseyside..?
And again of course his age is right for the Blues transfer strategy. He has the time to improve and become a better player, something he himself admits might be necessary.
On the downside he has just recently signed a contract extension keeping him at Roma until 2023 and so would likely cost upwards of £35 million at least. And if he were to become available, a number of other European clubs would surely be interested.
Some other transfer stories circulating today have Everton possibly looking at West Ham’s young central defender Issa Diop as an option to improve the defence.
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This comes after the Blues have been persistently linked with a move for Lille defender Gabriel. However although there seems to be plenty of reasons for thinking there is something is this, other clubs are also apparently keen on the Brazilian, such as Chelsea.
If the Lille player should choose another club like Chelsea because of say the pull of Champions League football, then the Toffees need to have a backup plan.
The Frenchman has been a rock solid performer for the east London club this season, but the Hammers might be tempted to cash in on him if the right offer came in.
Diop looks a decent potential bet but given that he is playing for another Premier League club, he would likely cost an extortionate amount of money.