Everton running out of options for midfield reinforcement

According to reports circulating at the moment, midfielders Kalvin Phillips and Jens Cajuste - both allegedly Everton targets - are heading to East Anglia and not Merseyside after all.

However, other stories claim that the Toffees are still in the hunt for Cajuste and may have alternatives lined up in case he does go to Ipswich.

One of those was supposed to be Lesley Ugochukwu, but he has joined Southampton instead on a season-long loan.

It is all quite confusing and contradictory - as these transfer rumours often are - but it leaves the Blues potentially seriously short of additional options as they seek to bolster the engine room with the new season starting today.

Although Sean Dyche signed Tim Iroegbunam early on in the transfer window - and the former Aston Villa starlet has impressed in pre-season - the Toffees sold Amadou Onana to Villa and have James Garner currently on the injured list.

On top of that the club let Tyler Onyango leave on loan, and so that leaves only veterans Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure alongside youth academy product Harrison Armstrong, who has not played a single Premier League minute.

Phillips was the player Dyche wanted and losing out on him to a newly promoted club is a little concerning.

Does this mean Everton have no funds at all even to offer decent loan terms to a player and his parent club?

While there are other areas of the team that ideally need strengthening - and I would like to see another striker brought in for example - getting at least one more player in midfield makes sense.

So, it seems as though the club will have to continue to scour the transfer market looking for midfielders who can fill that gap.

I have previously mentioned a player who might well fit the bill: Sheffield United's Vinicius Souza. He is a strong defensive player and would surely be available for a very modest fee.

There is one other intangible here and that is Dele Alli. The former Spurs star - who's January 2022 move to Goodison Park has been a truly forgettable one - returned last season from an equally awful loan spell in Turkey after suffering an injury.

He has since been undergoing rehabilitation at Finch Farm and is now getting closer to full fitness. Meanwhile, the Blues have been considering potentially re-signing him on new terms after he became a free agent.

All that is a a lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but if Dele does re-sign and if he was able to rediscover something of the sort of ability he showed earlier at Tottenham, he would give the Toffees another weapon.

Although he is not the further defensive midfielder Dyche wants and the team really needs soon.