Could Everton use Barca links to get Umtiti
Media reports claim Barcelona are ready to let centre-back Samuel Umtiti leave this summer and Everton have been touted as potential suitors.
Bringing in another centre-back didn’t seem a massive priority for Everton at the start of this transfer window although apart from last summer’s signing Ben Godfrey who was excellent, none of the team’s existing defenders were without significant issues last season.
Yerry Mina, Micheal Keane and Mason Holgate all occasionally had lapses or were at fault at various times in the last campaign and these errors and mistakes had sometimes proved very costly to the team.
So like his predeccesor Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez did seem to be interested in bringing in another top class central defender to shore up his shaky backline and rumours have linked the Blues with several recently.
Then on Saturday Keane’s error led directly to Southampton’s goal and revived fears of another erratic campaign from the existing defenders. This is something the Toffees really can’t afford.
Umtiti has been mentioned in passing as a possible addition in this position and now it appears Barcelona are ready to let him go for a knock-down price.
The Catalan giants are over 1 billion Euros in debt, an eye-watering amount and like so many clubs these days desperately need to offload a number of their expensive squad members.
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Everton were strongly linked with one of Umtiti’s team-mates Clement Lenglet earlier in the window and now it’s the turn of his French international colleague to be associated with a move to Goodison Park.
On paper at least, Umtiti would seem a good fit for what the Blues need. He’s a top quality defender with a ton of club and international experience and at 27 is at the peak of his powers.
He’s left-footed giving natural balance at centre-half and would also be available for a very reduced fee, around five or six million pounds and is therefore much more affordable than other similar defenders that have been linked with the club, such as Khalidou Koulibaly for instance.
The Toffees also have good relations with Barca having brought in Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes and Mina from the La Liga club in recent transfer windows, so maybe a deal can be done if he’s a player who interests Benitez.
However, all this transfer talk is very uncertain and it seems that unless there is considerable movement in terms of getting unwanted players out first, it doesn’t look as though Everton will be making any significant further signings in this window.