Never getting the centre-back help they wanted during the summer transfer window, Everton only have Yerry Mina, Michael Keane and Mason Holgate in the role for the first half of the season.
One of the players they were targeting was Lille’s Adama Soumaoro, who was widely expected to leave the French club this summer to try something new.
He nearly did, with a move to Monaco collapsing at the very last minute, but his real dream, one of a transfer to England, never materialised.
That may be something he pursues once again come January with L’Equipe reporting he ‘should’ leave in that window and is ‘dreaming of England’ move.
Monaco are now off the table after they signed Guillermo Maripan so it seems likely Soumaoro will push as hard as he can to make a Premier League move happen. Should he do so, Everton may be tempted to take another look.
They’ve not suffered as a result of their failure to sign a centre back; indeed Mina has replaced Kurt Zouma, but it’s still a less than satisfactory situation.
Holgate is yet to prove himself, and the cover behind him is limited unless Marco Silva is willing to give one of David Unsworth’s Under 23 squad their chance to impress as a back-up.
Soumaoro would represent a relatively cheap and reliable option then, should they decide they need further cover come January.
However, Everton director of football Marcel Brands prefers to stay away from the January transfer window working, and it’s also debatable whether Soumaoro would want to play back up to Keane and Mina at this point in his career.
