Since the departure of Tim Howard, Everton are yet to decide on who their number one goalkeeper should be.
The American’s return to his home country saw the only available option, Joel Robles, take his place, but Ronald Koeman taking over from Roberto Martinez meant the arrival of Martin Stekelenburg from Fulham.
The Dutch goalkeeper started the season until a leg injury saw him replaced by the Spaniard towards the end of December, and the former Ajax man is yet to return to the first team with Everton on an impressive run in his absence.
However, if French journalist Manu Lonjon is to be believed, Koeman may have already made a decision on who his 2017-18 goalkeeper might be, with Everton reportedly tracking Saint-Etienne goalkeeper Stéphane Ruffier.
Ces dernières semaines, Stéphane Ruffier ( ASSE) a été supervisé par West Ham, Everton et Liverpool.. pic.twitter.com/uIjZ3PQwy9
— Manu (@ManuLonjon) March 1, 2017
The 30-year-old, who has been with the Ligue 1 side since 2011, missed his first league games since his move from Monaco this season, putting an end to 207 consecutive league games in between the French club’s sticks, always performing to a high standard.
Such consistency is something Everton could really do with right now if they aspire to try and break into the top 6 on a regular basis.
However, with close rivals Liverpool also interested, and a contract keeping him at the club until 2021, a nice bidding war could break out for Ruffier this summer.
He won’t come cheap either, as Christophe Galtier won’t want to see his key man leave.
Over the years, Ruffier has managed to pick up three caps for France, which could be seen as an impressive feat when you take into account the fact he has had to contend with the likes of Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda throughout his career.
