Everton could be on the verge of making their 5th summer signing as Ronald Koeman’s revolution well and truly gets underway. According to the Daily Star, Everton are interested in the Lyon playmaker and are ready to outbid West Ham United for the player’s signature.
Everton have started the campaign on a positive note as they managed to keep the much vaunted Tottenham Hotspur attack at bay and earned a well-fought draw. Koeman would want to add new faces to the squad as he embarks on a restructuring and reestablishing the ethos of the team. He has been largely successful at Southampton where he held the fort after Pochettino left them for Spurs and he will be tasked with bringing the club back on track after an arguably regressive spell under manager Roberto Martinez.
He has already sanctioned the sale of John Stones for a massive £47.5m and moved quickly to bolster his squad by making intelligent additions with the money. Everton were in a similar situation last year but Martinez did not allow the unsettled Stones to leave, thus resulting in a sulking player who did not apply himself wholeheartedly and his performances dipped drastically which in turn led to a slew of high-profile errors resulting in loss of points. While Martinez’s intentions were praise-worthy, the outcome perhaps was not to the board’s liking.
While Koeman has already signed Ashley Williams in defence and Marten Stekelenburg in goal while bolstering his midfield with the signing of the tireless Aston Villa midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who was one of the most impressive powerhouses in midfield last season. And he has made Yannick Bolasie his first offensive signing and is looking to add to his options with Rachid Ghezzal.
The Algerian joined the Lyon academy at the age of 12 and has come up through the ranks since. He featured for Lyon B 53 times and scored 10 goals for them. He made the step up to the senior side in 2012 and has since made 61 appearances for them scoring 9 goals in the process.
The 24-year old Algerian attacker can play across the front three but mainly likes to cut in from the right hand side. He is known for his dribbling skills and looks to provide the final ball hence increasing his assist potential. The player is also adept at taking set-pieces and will provide an alternative to the likes of Barkley and Lukaku. But his finishing has been criticised and he will also have to improve on his aerial play to be comfortable in the Premier League.
He was excluded from Lyon’s previous match raising speculations of an imminent transfer and the likes of West Ham and Everton are touted as his likely destinations.
