Is Arsenal man the player Everton need on the right

The Daily Mail are running a story that Everton have made enquiries about the young Arsenal full-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles, so is he what the Toffees want on the right?

The fact the Blues need to strengthen the right hand side of the team is obvious with Seamus Coleman in decline and no natural wide attacking player there. And the Everton transfer duo of Marcel Brands and Carlo Ancelotti have ackowledged it is a priority this summer.

There have been quite a few potential candidates mentioned and it seems clear Brands and Ancelotti are looking to bring in both a full-back and a winger with names such as Max Aarons, Lucas Vasquez and Leon Bailey all linked with a move to Goodison Park.

Maitland-Niles is a new one and according to the Mail the Blues are interested in the Arsenal youngster who has been on loan at West Brom this season.

He’s a powerful pacey type of player who likes to carry the ball forward. Sounds a little bit like Alex Iwobi, maybe we don’t want another surplus Arsenal player then?!

The paper claim Everton see him as primarily a defender rather than offering a more versatile role in the team although he’s able to play in several different positions.

To some extent the decision on who to bring in depends on how the Toffees decide to play next season with Ancelotti’s favoured tactics still not certain and the team having gone through a number of formation changes this season.

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The manager started the campaign with a side lining up in a 4-3-3 formation and that seemed to work with the goals flowing over the first four weeks or so of the season.

But then came injuries and declining form and so Ancelotti altered his approach and eventually after some chopping and changing he settled on a four centre-back defence and a much more defensive counter-attacking style. And this also worked for a while as Everton picked up following a dip in form.

He has then again adjusted this recently and gone with a fluid three or five man defence using wing-backs and this is I think on reflection probably the best way to go.

This allows for maximum flexibility and the chance to switch seemlessly between a more defensive and attacking posture. Also as mentioned earlier I think Ben Godfrey could be key to making it work playing as a sweeper-type in a back three.

Anyway the reason I mention all this is that if Ancelotti uses this formation, effective wing-backs are essential to making it work so a player who is good both defensively and getting forward is vital. That would make a player like Maitland-Niles potentially be well suited to how Everton would then be set up to play although I think there are better alternatives out there.

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