Despite optimistic results so far, there are problems that need to be addressed by Ancelotti at Everton
It’s been a great season for Everton, they’re still in the race for the Champions League due to their game in hand, and Carlo Ancelotti has managed to get the best out of players who Toffees fans thought were flops or just inconsistent. However, there has been one problem that has stood out consistently this season, and that’s Everton’s struggles on the right-hand side.
At the start of the season, this wasn’t a problem, James Rodriguez was fantastic on the right, and Seamus Coleman continued to be Mr Consistent. After some time, it was clear James wanted to play in a more central role, and Coleman wasn’t the same player he used to be a few years ago. This isn’t me saying that Coleman is done in the Premier League, but he’s shown that he’s much better off the bench due to his age starting to catch up to him.
This is still a project at Everton, with Ancelotti wanting to make Everton a consistent top-six side. If he wants to do that, he needs to sign young players who can develop into world stars, but that’s difficult without Champions League football, as it’s hard to sign the best youngsters in the world, which could lead to Everton trying to find bargains.
Everton need to remodel that entire right-hand side with a new right-back, right-winger and even right central midfielder. This no disrespect to somebody like Tom Davies, who’s been fantastic for Everton, but squad depth is vital to becoming a European contender, and if Everton can sign players, then have somebody like Davies who’s willing to do whatever works for the club, it makes Everton much more dangerous and allows rotation going into Europe.
I’ve done articles before where I’ve mentioned some wingers that Everton must consider in the summer transfer window, so to avoid repetition, I’m going to find some new names. I’m also not going to talk about Max Aarons because it looks very likely, so I’m going to look at some other options, even though it looks like Aarons will be Everton’s right-back of the future.
Here are three players who could help transform Everton’s right side:
Emiliano Buendia is in double digits for goals and assists this season for Norwich
Emiliano Buendia
Everton could continue their raid of Norwich by taking a duo that already have an almost telepathic connection with each other. The Toffees wouldn’t have to worry about team chemistry if their right-hand side consisted of Ben Godfrey, Max Aarons and Emi Buendia, but it isn’t just team chemistry that makes Buendia an excellent signing, it’s the fact that he’s perfect for Everton’s right-wing position.
Buendia has the highest average rating in the Championship (via WhoScored), a monstrous 7.73 rating, with Buendia being comfortably the best player in the division. The Argentinian was expected to leave the Canaries last Summer, but somehow Norwich managed to keep him and have reaped the rewards, with Buendia scoring 10 and assisting 11 in 29 appearances.
When you take a deeper dive into his stats, you realise he’s having one of the best campaigns ever to grace the Championship and is clearly levels above his competition. Buendia’s all-around attacking game has been unstoppable, with the winger completing 1.6 dribbles per game along with 3.4 key passes per game, which puts him at the top of the Championship key passes charts, 1.4 above the next best player Connor Roberts.
He also takes 2.9 shots per game, showing he’s not afraid to take the game into his own hands, and even though 1.6 of his shots come from the outside of the box, his long shots are easily good enough to allow that, and 1.2 shots in the penalty area are still fantastic for a winger.
He wouldn’t come cheap, but Norwich more than likely understand that they can’t keep Buendia for much longer. If the Toffees offer a package deal of around £70-£80 million (£35m for Aarons and around £35-40m for Buendia) for Norwich’s star players, then it could be money that Norwich can’t turn down due to the current financial struggles due to the pandemic.
Adrien Rabiot links to Everton continue to surface
Adrien Rabiot
This is a player Everton have been linked with ever since Carlo Ancelotti joined, with the Italian making it very clear that he is a huge fan of French midfielder Adrien Rabiot. Ancelotti was actually the man to give Rabiot his PSG debut back in 2012.
After a few years in Paris, where he could never become a nailed-on starter, Rabiot joined Juventus on a free transfer back in 2019 and has faced the same problem in Turin. Under Maurizio Sarri, Rabiot struggled to adapt to the Italian game and is just finding his feet under Andrea Pirlo, with the Frenchman only starting 15 Serie A games for Andrea Pirlo’s side.
Rabiot would perfect if Ancelotti is planning on continuing to use either the diamond or a 4-3-3, with the Frenchman being a very talented passer of the ball who’s also willing to get stuck in and do the defensive work. This would make Everton very solid in midfield, and having three midfielders who are talented with the ball at their feet while also being able to get the defensive work done.
His numbers aren’t bad for somebody who’s only been given limited appearances, with Rabiot completing around two tackles per game, along with 1.3 interceptions, he’s only playing 0.3 key passes per game, but Rabiot completes around 90% of his passes, giving Everton a smart and accurate passer while having players like James Rodriguez who will try find those more risky passes.
Tariq Lamptey is a reported target for a number of English clubs
Tariq Lamptey
This one, of course, all depends on if Everton manages to sign Max Aarons, but if they don’t, Tariq Lamptey would be a fantastic signing. He’s rumoured to cost around £30 million, which could be less than what Everton will pay for Aarons.
The Englishman has been a revelation for Graham Potter’s side, with his speed being the thing that stood out the most about the 20-year old, but he’s far from a one-trick pony, with him seemingly outgrowing Brighton after only two seasons with the Seagulls.
Lamptey’s stats are extremely impressive for somebody so young. On the defensive side, he makes around 1.5 tackles with 1.7 interceptions, but it’s his offensive numbers that everybody is interested in.
Lamptey completes around 1.2 dribbles per game along with 0.9 key passes. Still, it’s how many times he’s fouled that is really eye-opening, 2.5 times per game, which makes him the fifth most fouled player in the Premier League. With dangerous set-piece takers like Lucas Digne, Gylfi Sigurdsson and James Rodriguez in the team, then he could be a beneficial asset for Everton when it comes to winning free-kicks.