As the stories about an impending move for Dynamo Kiev left-back Vitaly Mykolenko continue, will Everton also return for another full-back in January?
It does look more and more likely that the rumoured move for Mykolenko will indeed happen and the Ukrainian international is almost certain to join Everton next month.
Mykolenko’s arrival would probably spell the end of Lucas Digne’s three and a half years at Goodison Park and he will very likely leave Merseyside next month.
But, as well as the arrival of the Ukrainian defender might the Blues’ also revive a possible move for another youngster they have previously been linked with?
There are stories that the Toffees’ will go back again for Rangers and Scotland player Nathan Patterson who they tried to sign in the summer.
Patterson was a player strongly associated with Everton as the club tried, ultimately in vain, to sign a right-back, something that should have happened a long time ago. The fiasco over Ainsley Maitland-Niles proposed move on deadline day, epitomises these failings.
At the time of the Toffees’ interest in Patterson, Rangers were managed by Steven Gerrard and that may well have had somthing to do with why the Glasgow club were so reluctant to sell him.
Gerrard has left now of course to take over at Aston Villa and so it may be the case that the Scottish champions could be more willing to do a deal in the new year.
Presumably Digne leaving, if that happened quickly, will release additional funds which would be used to finance moves for new players such as Patterson.
The 20-year-old is a versatile and flexible defender who generally plays on the right hand side but can also operate on the left too according to Whoscored.com.
Everton were also tentatively linked with another young Scottish full-back Calvin Ramsey of Aberdeen. It would certainly represent a significant move if the club moved for these young defenders in January.
Both Mykolenko and Patterson certainly have ability and promise and if they can fulfill their potential they would represent sound investments. But, buying youngsters can also be a significant risk as well as other signings like Moise Kean have emphasised.
However, often the Blues’ have brought in players for huge fees who were older and supposedly ‘proven’ and as we know too well, they haven’t often been nearly as successful as such pedigree would have suggested leaving the club with an unbalanced and dysfunctional squad.
Moving towards a restructured team built on talented young players like these two and others such as Jarrad Branthwaite does on balance seem a generally solid approach, and we’ll see if Mykolenko and Patterson joining begins that process.