Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire, alledgedly a target for Everton, has reportedly been ‘offered’ to Premier League rivals Tottenham and West Ham United.
That’s according to reports from ESPN who claim the Old Trafford outfit have approached the two London clubs to see if they would be interested in acquiring Maguire.
The chances of Everton getting Maguire always seemed unlikely, regardless of whether he would actually be a good signing.
I’m not convinced the Blues need another hugely error-prone England international centre-half as they already have Michael Keane in their squad!
This report says Spurs and West Ham will anyway have first dibs on whether they want to take the 30-year-old former Leicester City defender who cost United an eye-watering £80 million in 2019.
It is certainly true that the Toffees need to bring in at least one centre-back this summer.
They have released Conor Coady at the end of his season-long loan and Yerry Mina will also leave Goodison Park after his contract finishes at the end of the month.
So, that is two experienced and solid defenders with leadership qualities who won’t be around when the new Premier League season kicks off.
And, alongside Keane, Everton have other centre-backs who certainly don’t provide much reassurance either.
Mason Holgate and Ben Godfrey both struggled badly last season and neither is a long-term solution in the heart of the defence.
That leaves only James Tarkowski as a reliable central defender in the current squad and despite his durability, he is 31-years-old now.
The wildcard in all this is Jarrad Branthwaite. The 20-year-old has just enjoyed something of a breakthorough time last season on loan at PSV Eindhoven.
He has impressed so much that the Dutch giants want to make it a permanent deal.
I would like to see Branthwaite given an opportunity to show Evertonians what he can do, although there are still rumours he may well leave, probably heading back to Holland if he does.
There are also obviously other options available for Sean Dyche as he considers potential defensive recruits.
Maybe he could consider a couple of players from the relegated sides like Harry Souttar perhaps, who would seem well suited given his age and attributes.
While there are obvious reservations about signing players from relegated teams, the Australian looks a solid enough defender with Premier League experience who the Blues were previously linked with.
And of course, let’s not forget Tarkowski came from relegated Burnley last summer and performed very consistently thoughout most of the campaign just gone.
At any rate, Dyche will need to look carefully at the transfer market and try to find a centre-half with the right qualities to contribute immediately and help shore up a backline that was worryingly vulnerable, particularly late last season.