After Duncan Ferguson’s emotional testimonial Roberto Martinez answered questions posed by the Everton press officers regarding his upcoming involvement in the transfer market and he revealed his desire to acquire a central defender, a creative midfielder and a striker.
This response didn’t offer many surprises as the need for another centre half is clear for all to see as Everton currently only have two first team centre backs on their books as well as Martinez himself previously stating he was looking for a number 10; however the admission that a new striker is on the cards was a very promising proposition for all Evertonians especially as Martinez had said earlier in the window that he was satisfied with his forward options and had belief in highly criticised front man Arouna Kone but he clearly seems to have changed his mind during pre-season and has realised reinforcements are required. In this article I am going to look at potential signings Everton could make in the positions highlighted by Martinez.
The first position I am going to look at is centre back. This is a position which has seen many players linked to Everton and many deals become abundantly clear that they are not going to happen, such as Angelo Ogbonna rejecting Everton to sign for West Ham and when Scott Dann signed a new five-year deal at Crystal Palace. The current crop of players rumoured to be on Everton’s wishlist include Jonny Evans of Manchester United and Virgil van Dijk of Celtic with both of those rumours carrying more substance than some others such as Udinese’s Thomas Heurtaux.
First, I am going to look at Jonny Evans. This deal is rumoured to cost Everton in the region of 7 million pounds which seems fairly reasonable for an experienced and fairly complete defender, furthermore Evans isn’t a regular at United at the moment so he might be more willing than some other first team defenders to accept a role as a squad rotation player.
Second, Virgil van Dijk is supposedly valued at around 8 million pounds. The Dutchman is a highly-rated player who has many premier league clubs chasing after him which may make him less likely to join as he may be after first team football especially due to his young age, additionally van Dijk is a very good player who is strong, good in the air and has good passing making him ideal for Martinez’s philosophy. Personally I would prefer to see van Dijk sign rather than Evans as despite the higher price I feel his younger age and great potential would make him the perfect signing as he would eventually gain the experience necessary to be a regular first choice to replace Jagielka.
The second position I am going to analyse is the attacking midfield position where the rumours surrounding potential signings lack any real substance but the two players who are regularly linked to Everton are Dries Mertens and Dennis Praet. Mertens is a highly rated player and his signing would definitely come under the marquee signing category however subsequently his price would be rather high with the lowest rumoured price at 14 million, although for a player with such speed, dribbling, passing and shooting ability such a fee would be worthwhile.
The other rumoured player (Praet) is considerably less experienced and skilled however at only 21 that would be expected however on the other hand his reported price is 4 million lower at £10 million and Praet is still a very useful player with good ability and great potential. My view on this position is that Mertens would be the better signing as we already have a young attacking midfielder who is still learning the game in Ross Barkley so a finished product would be more useful than another young player who will make mistake while learning the game.
Finally, I am going to look at signing another striker as the current back up forward in Kone is simply not good enough and with Lukaku still learning and young a more experienced forward would be useful to help take some of the goal-scoring load off Lukaku’s back. The two most likely signings are Charlie Austin who is becoming more regularly linked to the Toffees by the day and the other is another Manchester United player Javier Hernandez. Both players have had prolific seasons in the premier league and both also look set to leave their respective clubs whether it be to Everton or someone else.
In addition, the two forwards will cost a similar amount of money with Hernandez apparently costing 12 million and Austin costing around 15 million. Either of these two players would be brilliant signings as they share abilities such as clinical finishing and strong in the air and there isn’t too much difference in price but if push came to shove I would probably opt for Austin as he is the younger of the two.
In conclusion I feel that when Everton do their business they may leave it late to try and haggle down the price of their potential new players.
@rosscummins98
