Rumours are emerging that Everton have moved to replace Lucas Digne with Ukrainian defender Vitaly Mykolenko as soon as possible.
The controversy over what is happening with Lucas Digne has become a sort of symbol for everything going wrong with Everton at the moment.
The Frenchman has been dropped not just from the first-eleven but the squad as a whole for the last two Premier League games as a result of a fall-out with Rafa Benitez over the manager’s desire to see his full-backs focus much more on defensive responsibilities.
This has not been a generally popular move and the way in which Benitez has handled it again underlines his lack of connection with the fans and his stubborn refusal to compromise when he has decided on something.
If the team he is picking were winning football matches ultimately it wouldn’t matter, but of course they’re not and so it represents another sore point that has also perhaps crystalised the issues between the manager and his players.
I’ve said before that actually Digne’s form recently has been poor and it seems as though he is often coasting during games in the knowledge that there is no one to threaten his place in the team. That’s not a good situation and we haven’t seen the best of him for while now.
And, as we all know, Nils Nkounkou has been loaned out for the season leaving the Blues’ without another specialist left-back in the squad to turn to.
So, when he was dropped from the starting eleven and replaced by Ben Godfrey who did well there filling in for him last season, I wasn’t actually that suprised, although his being left out of the whole squad was unexpected.
I actually think the Frenchman can offer Everton more playing either as a wing-back or on the left of a midfield four where he can concentrate on delivering the sort of quality balls into the box which he is so good at.
However, it now looks as though he might well be leaving the club as soon as next month and the rumour mill is in full swing with Chelsea and Juventus apparently interested in a deal for the 28-year-old.
With that possibility growing, the stories about Mykolenko have emerged with a deal supposedly imminent for the Ukrainian international.
Swopping Digne, an established international with one of the top countries in World football for a young 22-year-old who despite having obvious talent, is unproven in a major European league, hardly looks like an ideal move.
Mykolenko might well prove to be a very good player, but surely if he is coming to Goodison Park, he should ideally be coming to back-up to Digne or perhaps allow him to play further forward as I’ve described above?
Given Benitez’s history though and the fact he has consolidated his power over player transfers with Marcel Brands recent departure, it could well be that these stories of Digne’s departure turn out to be accurate.