Everton are lining up a move for Ligue 1 midfielder, Boubakary Soumaré who has been valued at £20m by OSC Lille. Next in line to be the new Paul Pogba, the 18-year-old maestro has broken into the first team of the French outfit and is already displaying signs of future stardom.
But can he really emulate Pogba? Standing at 6 feet 2 inches and already a first team regular for a top-flight side at such a young age, he is on the right trajectory similar to one followed by the Manchester United superstar. Soumaré is a holding midfielder by trade who can break off opposition defences with his incredible vision and technical abilities from the middle of the park. A talent Everton can certainly do with now that their summer transfer investments have been less than entirely fruitful.
The holding midfield role has been a bit problematic and it hit a new blow last night after James McCarthy went down with a horrific injury in the side’s 1-1 draw against West Brom. The Toffees faced a heavy expenditure period over the summer and so far the return on their investments have been less than ideal. The side expected to make a push for the top four but have settled for the 9th spot of the points table after a shambolic start to the campaign under Ronald Koeman. Sam Allardyce has instilled a bit of structure to dig the side out of the relegation spots but is still a far cry from the European qualification place.
Additions in the January transfer window have been made through Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun and the club should look to sign a player who can immediately bolster the midfield ranks before the end of January.
Youngsters like Tom Davies, Mason Holgate and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have flourished at Goodison Park over the past couple of years and this should come as a promising sign for Soumaré. Even though Allardyce favours veteran players to notoriously break them out of relegation battles, he has been credited with the vision to notice club youngsters and give them major roles.
Soumaré can easily find himself placed as a rotating option alongside Idrissa Gueye behind the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Rooney. The current squad is overstacked with a few unused by yet expensive players who can be offloaded to make way for the 18-year-old maestro who is more than eager to take the next step in his promising footballing career.
