As the dust settles on the headline-grabbing capture of James Rodriguez by Everton, attention will begin to turn towards other possible transfer targets for the Blues.
We are still waiting for confirmation that the last member of the midfield ‘three musketeers’, Aboulaye Doucoure, has finally sealed his switch to Everton.
But, assuming that deal will be concluded soon, there are other potential moves being mooted as the Blues continue to be linked with new players.
We’ve looked again at a couple of these rumoured transfers, in particular renewed interest in Allesandro Florenzi and a new story concerning Napoli striker Fernando Llorente.
One other player who has previously been touted as possibly of interest to the Toffees, is Chelsea centre-back Fikayo Tomori.
Again today, this story has re-surfaced with Everton being mentioned as a possible destination for the young England defender if he does move to anther club this summer.
The story now has added relevance because of the injury to Mason Holgate last weekend. Holgate had to go off during the Blues 2-0 win over Preston North End and it didn’t look good for him.
At the time of writing it’s still uncertain how serious his latest injury is and whether he will be fit enough to play in Everton’s season opener at Tottenham on Sunday.
Obviously everyone is hopeful Holgate will be fit again very soon. But his injury could keep him out for several weeks and he has had a number of injury problems recently.
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Also it’s clear that the Toffees don’t have another centre-back like him who could replace what he gives the team.
This is why a move for Tomori might make sense. The young Chelsea defender is quite a similar player who I think would certainly be an excellent replacement or he could of course play with him.
Any deal would be a loan for one season, similar to when the Blues brought in Kurt Zouma on deadline day in 2018.
I’m a little surprised that the London club might be prepared to let him go, even if it’s only for a year, but they have brought in Thiago Silva and a young French central defender too so perhaps feel they can afford to loan him out for a year.
The England international could offer real quality and strengthen the defensive effort of that Everton back four. Although the transfer priority for other areas of the team, for me, would be full-back and/or a pacey winger, he would be a good option, especially with no fee to pay.
Stop Press: It’s just been announced that Everton have signed Abdouylaye Doucoure!