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Everton sizing up Serbian centre-back

By Matt Townsend

NAPLES, ITALY - JANUARY 06: Nikola Maksimovic of SSC Napoli during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and Spezia Calcio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on January 06, 2021 in Naples, Italy. Sporting stadiums around Italy remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images )
NAPLES, ITALY - JANUARY 06: Nikola Maksimovic of SSC Napoli during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and Spezia Calcio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on January 06, 2021 in Naples, Italy. Sporting stadiums around Italy remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images ) /
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More unlikely transfer rumours surfacing today claim Everton are eying up the Napoli and Serbia central defender Nikola Maksimovic.

According to reports relayed by HITC.com it seems Everton are keeping tabs on the 29-year-old, along with.. West Ham United!

It seems like these days no transfer rumour is complete without the Hammers being included and this one claims the Toffees are competing with their Premier League rivals for Maksimovic’s signature.

The club have been linked with a move for the Serbian international before and the story has been revived with 48 hours left in the transfer window presumably through his agent trying to get the player a move before the window shuts for six months.

Supposedly he’s available for a modest fee of around £10 million and would ideally like to be re-united with his former manager Carlo Ancelotti.

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Everton have centre-backs Micheal Keane, Yerry Mina, Mason Holgate and summer signing Ben Godfrey in the squad at the moment plus Jarrad Branthwaite and Lewis Gibson both out on loan.

So I think this is one story we can put safely to one side and feel confident there’s nothing in it at all.

But it does lead onto questions about the future of the Blues defence and how it might evolve.

At the moment Keane and Mina are usually the starting central defensive pair while Holgate and Godfrey have been playing full-back very effectively.

Longer-term though it’s likely this defence won’t represent the future of the Toffees team.

With the return to fitness of both his first-choice full-backs Ancelotti is likely to restore them to the side for some games, although against some opponents I think he will and should continue to rely on that very solid defence that has been a consistent rock to build on. 

In addition Everton are continually linked with new full-backs to replace the ageing Coleman and it does seem very possible that the Blues will go into the transfer market this summer to bring in another right-back.

That means that despite the excellent play of Godfrey and Holgate (especially Godfrey) they both may find themselves out of the team in that scenario.

dark. Next. Must win match for Everton

For me long-term if Ancelotti wants to return to a more orthodox backline, Godfrey would be an ideal partner to Keane who is the best of the two current central defenders and would provide the pace and man-marking qualities that Keane for all his attributes, doesn’t have.

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