Lucas Digne’s time at Everton is clearly coming to an end, and Aston Villa looks like the likeliest destination for the player right now.
Reports from both England and France have pushed forward a move to the Birmingham club, and it’s even been claimed there’s a personal agreement between the fullback and Steven Gerrard’s side.
Wednesday’s edition of L’Equipe takes a look at the situation of several France players who have uncertain situations ahead of the Qatar World Cup, and when it comes to Digne they give a big hint over why he wants to leave Everton.
His relationship with Rafael Benitez has gone from ‘cold to polar’ in recent weeks, and the basis for that could be the displays of Theo Hernandez for AC Milan. This has seen the Everton player’s status with France ‘crumble’.
He’s in competition with the Rossoneri man for a World Cup place, and Hernandez has scored four goals and added five assists in Serie A this season, compared to Digne managing zero of either in the Premier League.
Last season, the Milan player was again way ahead of Digne on goals, but the pair were pretty equal when it came to assists.
The Everton man must feel he needs more attacking freedom to impress Didier Deschamps, whether he’d get that at Aston Villa remains to be seen.
