Koulibaly back on Everton transfer agenda

Kalidou Koulibaly (Photo by Giorgio Perottino/Getty Images)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Photo by Giorgio Perottino/Getty Images)

The transfer rumours are getting more crazy by the minute with Khalidou Koulibaly now apparently back under consideration by Everton.

The Napoli centre-back was supposedly a key target of Carlo Ancelotti (along with a lot of other defenders) before he walked out on Everton to return to Real Madrid.

Now new boss Rafa Benitez is also targetting the Toffees central defenders for strengthening this summer and the club have again been linked with an increasing number of new centre-backs.

And once more Koulibaly is one of them. Both Ancelotti and Benitez have previously managed the Senegal player and it was Benitez who brought him to Naples in the first place.

Seeking to improve the Blues defence would be a likely priority for the Spaniard and he shares this emphasis with his predecessor. So signing a new central defender makes sense and with all these rumours swirling around it does seem very probable that will happen this summer.

As usual it feels like Everton have been linked with nearly every central defender around in Europe with moves supposedly being considered for a host of players in that position.

Koulibably was the favoured target of Ancelotti but with his departure that story went quiet as luring him to Goodison Park seemed dependent on the Italian being in charge. But now that Benitez is installed as Everton manager this link can be revived.

Well Koulibaly is certainly an oustanding defender and would be a quality addition to the Toffees centre-back ranks.

But his arrival would surely mean one of the Blues current central defenders leaving and the most likely candidate for an exit is Yerry Mina.

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The Colombian has had an inconsistent time since his move from Barcelona in 2018. This past season he was actually very good overall but he also has a lot of injury problems, which means he generally misses considerable chunks of the season.

All that means he is a player who can’t be relied upon with great certainty and it makes forming a regular and reliable centre-back partnership difficult.

Anyway, if Benitez has decided on a change Mina is the player who would seem to be in danger of losing his place.

Mina is also the defender likely to fetch the best fee because despite these problems he is still quite well regarded and is the most high-profile of the Everton defenders and so would probably still command a decent fee.

Pairing the Senegal player with all his quality and experience alongside Ben Godfrey for example would seem a mouth-watering prospect and might help provide a really solid base for an improvement in the team next season.