Everton interest in Dutch defender has cooled

As the first-team players return to training this morning, it looks increasingly unlikely that Everton will get a right-back they’ve supposedly been after.

That player is Denzel Dumfries. The Dutch player who has been excelling at Euro 2020 and it seemed he was very much on the radar of Everton Director of Football Marcel Brands as a possible replacement for Seamus Coleman.

The Blues executive knows Dumfries well having been at the Dutch club until his move to Merseyside in 2018.

Brands has apparently been in contact with the player and his representatives about a move to Goodison Park after the tournament, but supposedly the club’s interest has cooled as Dumfries’ price has gone up a lot following his fine, dynamic performances for Holland recently.

And it did also look as though Inter Milan had made a move to prempt the Toffees and were ready to make a deal, although reports this morning say they’ve moved on to other targets. So this situation is a bit of mess.

Given the chaos at Everton over the past month following Carlo Ancelotti’s sudden departure at the beginning of June and the long search for his successor, it’s not surprising if players are reluctant to consider a move the Blues when other more certain offers are available.

A club like Inter could offer Dumfries Champions League football next season while obviously the Toffees couldn’t even qualify for the Europa Conference tournmament.

If Everton do miss out on the dynamic right-sided player it will be an irritating situation. He does seem to tick the boxes in terms of what the Blues need and was available, albiet for a now much inflated fee.

So the club now might now need to look at other alternatives. One of those who was being touted for a move to Everton a few months back was Norwich’s Max Aarons, but it also looks likely that he will go elsewhere now.

Another player who was linked a few times and might have met the need for a fast, young attacking player on the right was Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey, however it seems as though he’s not a priority either. So the options are running out fast.

I’ve argued before that Domenico Berardi would be an ideal player to bring in because he can operate either as a wing-back or further forward as he has done for Italy in these Euros. Effectively Everton would kill two birds with one stone by signing him.

Benitez will have his own priorities when it comes to new players but regardless it seems obvious that Everton do need to address this critical weakness before the new season kicks off.