Everton should be in the race for Brighton man
According to media reports today Brighton are ready to sell several player including midfielder Yves Bissouma and if he is available Everton should be looking closely at him.
With continued uncertainty over the long-term viability of relying on a seemingly permanently injury-prone Jean-Philippe Gbamin and the need to try and get more out of Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure offensively, he would be ideal for Everton.
Bissouma is a player who I think would suit what the Toffees still need. He’s a very powerful and athletic defensive midfielder who also likes to bring the ball forward and so he would be an ideal fit for that deeper lying number six position, which Allan usually filled last season.
The Mali international has plenty of English football experience of course and is also the perfect age at 24 and so he should represent an investment that the club could cash in on if they wanted to in later years.
This report claims the Toffees would face stiff competition, including from Merseyside neighbours Liverpool, if they want to sign Bissouma.
The Blues midfield was much improved last term by the arrival of the two summer signings Allan and Doucoure, but it is still lacking in depth and when one or both of them were missing the team’s performances and results dropped off markedly.
And as we’ve mentioned before neither the Brazilian or the Frenchman made enough of an offensive contribution last season because they were needed to do so much defensive work covering the team’s backline.
There is more to come from them in that respect and I think Everton need to give both the opportunity to get more involved in the attacking third.
While there might be existing options in the wider squad, bringing in a player like Bissouma would even more easily allow them to do just that.
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All this also comes as rumours surface that another Premier League south coast club, Southampton, want to try and tempt one of the Toffees existing midfielders Tom Davies into a move away from Goodison Park.
This story first popped up a while back and while nothing came of it then, it seems the Saints are still interested in Davies after having just signed another Blues player Theo Walcott who has returned to his first club after a successful loan spell last term.
It makes some sense that they would be looking at Davies because Southampton lost Pierre-Emile Hojberg last summer when he chose to move to Tottenham over Everton and they need a replacement.
There are other younger and more uncertain options like Pape Sarr, but I think selling Davies to the Saints (if they’re really interested in him) and investing in the Brighton man would be a sound strategy and give the Blues exactly the sort of midfield reinforcement they need.
A midfield three of Doucoure, Bissouma and Allan would be a very good combination of power, athleticism and defensive strength and give the team the ability to press much more effectively too.