Everton boss Ronald Koeman has been working hard in the transfer market to find players who would help him rebuild the squad according to his own model for the future. The Dutch tactician has already brought a handful of players into Goodison to be a part of his exciting project with Yannick Bolasie, Martin Stekelenburg and Idrissa Gueye being some of those new faces. The problem area of the Toffees, their defence, is the one which has been a worry for Koeman. Swansea captain Ashley Williams was an excellent addition to stabilise the backline but the sale of John Stones to Manchester City for a massive £47.5m, making him the most expensive English defender of all time, has left a space which needs to be filled. The former Southampton boss has identified FC Valencia centre-back Aymen Abdennour as the ideal replacement.
Abdennour is an experienced defender who has played in Germany, France and Spain. The 27-year old has thus great experience which is vital for any defender. Having made his name with his consistent displays for French Ligue 1 club Toulouse, Monaco signed the player after he impressed them during his brief loan spell at the club in the winter of 2014.
With Monaco, the Tunisian defender reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League beating Arsenal in the round of 16 where the defender was very impressive over the two legs. The French side eventually lost to finalists Juventus. Valencia were impressed with him and decided to bring him to the Mestalla where he managed to salvage some pride with his individual performances despite a nightmare season, which saw the team finish 12th in the league, their worst league position in recent years.
Koeman though knows fully well that the defender would be able to adapt to the Premier League perfectly given his wonderful physical stature coupled with his vast experience and can form the perfect partnership at the heart of the defence with the dependable Ashley Williams. Valencia, do need to sell in order to balance their books for FFP and it seems that they can accept the reported £15m bid Everton have submitted before the transfer window closes.
On the other hand, Arsenal have also submitted an offer for another one of their centre backs in Mustafi, which makes things very interesting as clearly, Valencia won’t be parting ways with two of their first choice central defenders. One of them will be allowed to leave and if Abdennour is the one who the Spanish club chooses to part with then Koeman can be satisfied for getting the job done in stabilising his team’s defence.
