da bet esporte： Everton really do need to fix their midfield this summer and whilst a swoop for Napoli’s Allan solves some of the problems, there’s still a huge creative void to be filled, enter an old name…
What’s the word?
da brwin： According to Marca, the Toffees are an option for Real Madrid outcast James Rodriguez this summer, and despite Man Utd also being keen, it is thought that the Colombian international would garner more game time at Goodison Park.
It’s not the first time that the midfield playmaker has been mooted with a switch to Merseyside as Italian journalist Nicolo Schira claimed back in April that Rodriguez was one of Carlo Ancelotti’s top targets.
Meanwhile, reports in Spain have suggested that the 29-year-old could now be available on the cheap with Madrid wanting just €8.5m (£7.5m) to offload the star.
Creativity void
It is no secret in Merseyside that Ancelotti’s engine room was devoid of ideas – in Tom Davies you get a player not really suited to the system and in Andre Gomes, you’ve got a solid passer but not much else.
It speaks volumes when Morgan Schneiderlin, who has now departed for Nice, ranks first for tackles per game (2.1) of any Toffees midfielder and even worse, Gylfi Sigurdsson tops the midfield charts for key passes per match (1.5), via WhoScored.
These are two players that were seemingly behind both Davies and Gomes in the pecking order.
But with the club edging closer to Brazilian enforcer Allan, it’s time to take care of the attacking side of things, which is why a move for Rodriguez makes a ton of sense – even more so at just £7.5m.
Now, the 29-year-old hasn’t been in Zinedine Zidane’s plans this season but during a two-year loan spell at Bayern, he provided 15 goals and 17 assists, averaging no fewer than 2.6 key passes per game in the Bundesliga.
It was his form in Munich that had head coach Jupp Heynckes labelling him a “god-send” and that’s exactly what he could be at Goodison Park – there’s certainly going to be less pressure than at the Bernabeu.
Rodriguez was dubbed a “revelation” and a player who “oozes class” by Florentino Perez upon signing for Madrid, but things haven’t gone to plan so it’s time for Ancelotti to sack off Sigurdsson in favour of the 76-cap maestro.
AND in other news, Everton fans want one player to leave amid EXIT links…