Everton currently have a significant number of players in their squad that have contracts set to expire next summer.
With that in mind, it seems as though the club and their hierarchy have some big decisions to make throughout the season over which players they may or may not offer new deals to.
This would presumably be in addition to having to worry about Anthony Gordon’s future after he was heavily linked with a move away from Goodison Park over the summer.
One of those players, who, in our view, should be offered a new contract is Abdoulaye Doucoure, who currently has a deal that is set to run out at the end of June, but the club have the option to trigger another year onto that deal.
Signed back in the 2020 summer transfer window from Watford in a deal worth £20m, the midfielder has gone on to make 70 appearances for the Toffees across all competitions, scoring five goals and delivering seven assists along the way.
Last season saw the 29-year-old make 30 league appearances for the Merseyside club, leaving only two other outfield players with more minutes played than him.
From an attacking point of view, only three other Everton players managed to have more shots at goal than the former Watford figure (34), and only three players that attempted more than 10 passes had a higher pass completion percentage than him (80.1%).
However, it was from a defensive point of view where the midfielder really showed his worth by making more pressures (656) than any of his teammates as well as the third-highest combined total of tackles and interceptions (117).
Hailed as a “complete” player by former Toffees manager, Carlo Ancelotti, Doucoure has shown how much of a useful option he is for Lampard, who will undoubtedly need him throughout the season, despite him being currently injured.
With all of that in mind, regardless of the one-year option the club are able to trigger on his contract, we feel that it would be a smart move from them to offer the £75k-per-week midfielder a new deal entirely and get him to continue his journey at Goodison Park for as long as possible.
