Florenzi or Dalot who’s best for Everton

While the obvious priority for strengthening in this transfer window is the midfield, Everton are being consistently linked with moves for several right-sided defenders. So who is the best bet for the Blues?

Full-back has become a headache position for Everton after veteran left-back Leighton Baines retired and then the club decided not to sign Djibril Sidibe permanently when his loan came to an end, both at the end of last season.

Suddenly the Toffees had no experienced cover for either full-back position and to be honest I feel the club have made a bit of a mess of this.

While Baines’ decision to quit is one that the Blues couldn’t have known about or obviously prevented, letting Sidibe go was a decision I found a little strange.

OK the Frenchman wasn’t the best defender in the world, that’s for sure! He had problems getting caught out of position and not tracking runners consistently but there are ways around that.

The most obvious, is playing in a different formation such as 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 that puts less emphasis on the defensive side of the game for the full-backs, allowing them to play as a wing-back for example.

Most full-backs these days are not the best defenders and they often tend to play in advanced , attacking roles, essentially operating as wingers. Modern full-backs have become a key source of attacking creativity and support in nearly all successful teams.

Sidibe is a fine attacking player who provided good service from the right wing and certainly created plenty of chances last season. Everton desperately need more creativity in the team and Sidibe would have surely helped provide it.

He would also have probably been available for about £10 million, possibly less, which is not a bad fee in today’s market. Furthermore, there aren’t that many good quality, experienced, attacking full-backs knocking around.

Anyway the Blues management didn’t seem convinced, so he returned to Monaco and we are back to square one, with the only cover for the aging and increasingly limited Seamus Coleman, being a player who spent last season on loan in Germany.

Jonjo Kenny has returned from the Bundesliga having had a decent campaign there but with doubts still persisting about whether he can cut it in the Premier League.

Now there are constant rumours about the Toffees bringing in another right-back from Europe and while these reports might all be false, it doesn’t seem as though Carlo Ancelotti rates Kenny.

So if the Blues boss is keen to bring in another right-back, which of those names most often cited is the best bet?

The individual being mentioned with increasing frequency in recent days, is the Roma right-sided player, Alessandro Florenzi.

Florenzi has been on loan in La Liga playing with Valencia this past season and despite being an experienced and versatile footballer, the Spanish club have decided not to turn that loan into a permanent deal.

He is a player who can operate in a number of positions. During the past season, he has most often been playing right-back for Roma and then Valencia, or coming off the bench to play in several other positions both in defence and midfield.

According to Whoscored.com, the Italian player has some significant qualities, most particularly his passing game, which is strong.

Defensively though he doesn’t seem to be the best, with an average of only about one tackle and clearance per game. These stats aren’t as high as you might think for a defender, although as I’ve mentioned above, many full-backs these days are primarily attacking players.

This seems to be true of Florenzi. He looks like an attack-minded player even though his offensive numbers from last season, no goals and one assist, aren’t actually very impressive.

Then there’s his age. The Italian is 29, which suggests he might only have a few seasons left at the highest level and obviously would have no sell-on value if the Toffees bought him outright.

On balance, I’m not sure he’s the right player for Everton. I don’t think he offers enough offensively and while versatility can certainly be a strength, sometimes it can also mean a player isn’t able to contribute enough in any one position to merit a place in the team consistently.

Moving on then, what about another player who has been recently linked with a move to Goodison Park, Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot.

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The Portuguese player hasn’t had much of a look-in at Old Trafford recently and with Aaron Wan-Bissaka firmly ensconced as the Red Devils starting right-back, it doesn’t look as though he will have much opportunity in the near future either.

Given that he hasn’t had much game-time, it’s not easy to assess his abilities. He’s young, only 21, and was a well-regarded talent when United bought him from Porto in 2018.

Again, like Florenzi, he is quite versatile and can play right-back and left-back as well as move up to the right side of midfield.

In terms of stats, there ins’t much to go on of course. He looks a good player on the ball, quite creative and strong in the air too. So I would be more inclined to think that Dalot is a better bet for Everton.

With his youth and talent, he represents a player who should, given a decent run in the team, develop and improve in value. I think he would probably be available for £8-10 million, or perhaps instead a loan deal for a season with the option to buy next summer.