The January transfer window is just around the corner, and for Everton, it’s looking like it’ll be a crucial window.
After spending just £1.7m in the summer, the Blues squad is in desperate need of reinforcement and owner Farhad Moshiri has promised that under-fire manager Rafa Benitez will be backed.
To what extent remains to be seen, given finances are tight thanks to Financial Fair Play, even if they did manage to get rid of James Rodriguez and his wage packet.
With those limitations in place, Marcel Brands, who famously dislikes working in the winter transfer window, will have to find some bargains and Paris Saint Germain could be the place to get them.
Foot Mercato report today that the French giants are keen to get rid of as many as seven players in January, with journalist Sébastien Denis naming the ones on the list.
Sergio Rico, Thilo Kehrer, Abdou Diallo, Mauro Icardi, Rafinha, Layvin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes are reportedly the men on the sell list, and that means there’s plenty of options for someone like Everton.
The most obvious choices are defenders Thilo Kehrer and Abdou Diallo, who would be welcome additions to an Everton defence that is sorely lacking in quality.
Info : le PSG souhaite se débarrasser de plusieurs joueurs cet hiver (Paris veut au moins en faire partir trois), voici la liste (cc @Santi_J_FM) :
– Sergio Rico
– Thilo Kehrer
– Abdou Diallo
– Mauro Icardi
– Rafinha
– Layvin Kurzawa
– Leandro Paredeshttps://t.co/HR5okfMX4y— Sébastien Denis (@sebnonda) December 3, 2021
The likes of Michael Kean and Mason Holgate aren’t up to scratch, and with Yerry Mina set to enter the final year of his contract, besieged by injuries and linked with a move away, it would make sense for the Blues to look at adding in that position.
At 25-years-old Kehrer would fit ideally into the age profile Everton want, and his ability to play right-back, he’s played there 44 times for PSG and Schalke combined, would be useful given Everton’s problems in that position.
The same can be said of Diallo, who is the same age as Kehrer and is predominantly a left-back at this point, another area where Everton are desperately short of cover. He can also play centre back and indeed has more appearances there (120) than at full-back (59). Either player would add some versatility to Benitez’s squad regardless.
Of the rest on the list, Rafinha would be an interesting addition given the lack of creativity in Everton’s midfield since Rodriguez left. ‘No one wants’ him at PSG according to FM, and he’s only valued at around £10m, but his ‘very comfortable salary’ would likely be an issue.
And that is why Mauro Icardi is unlikely to be an option, despite a desperate need for goalscoring quality at Goodison Park.
FM say he’d like to leave the French capital for a ‘quieter club’, and he’d definitely find that in Everton, where he would undoubtedly be the ‘major element’ that he wants to be. He comes with a lot of baggage, though, and a salary that the Toffees would surely struggle to match.
Either way, it seems it’s all about sales at PSG in January, and that means for some further down the chain, like Everton, there are opportunities.
They have a good relationship with the French giants after selling Idrissa Gueye and doing a loan deal for Moise Kean last year so there is nothing stopping them from holding talks and seeing what they can do, especially with PSG keen to get rid.
