After spending more than £150m on new players last summer, you would have expected Everton to have a relatively strong defence this season, but it hasn’t been the case at all.
While Jordan Pickford was a more than solid addition between the sticks, fellow pre-season arrivals Michael Keane and Cuco Martina – who has played in an unfamiliar left-back role for a number of months in the absence of the injured Leighton Baines – have often struggled to make a positive impact.
Combined with relatively inexperienced players like Jonjoe Kenny and Mason Holgate, and Ashley Williams – who has angered Toffees supporters with his latest comments about the campaign – and Phil Jagielka who are realistically way beyond their best playing days, it has been a bit of a recipe for disaster at times.
The Merseyside outfit have conceded 51 times in their 31 Premier League matches so far this term – only Watford, Huddersfield Town, West Ham United and Stoke City have let in more – and they have often been disorganised and sloppy at the back.
Toffees manager Sam Allardyce may have thought that he had gone some way to sorting the issue when he signed Eliaquim Mangala on loan until the end of the campaign from Manchester City during the January transfer window, but following a 5-0 defeat against Arsenal on his debut he then picked up a season-ending injury in the win against Crystal Palace a week later.
With survival now secured after they reached 40 points with a 2-1 win against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium last time out, Everton can already start looking towards what they are going to do in the summer, and bringing in at least one – and possibly two centre-backs – will surely be one of their main priorities.
It would certainly be no surprise to see the likes of Williams, Jagielka and Ramiro Funes Mori move on, but even though Keane has been disappointing – with the fans often critical of his performances – the club are likely to keep faith with a player they paid an initial £25m fee for last summer.
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The 25-year-old certainly has the ability to grow with the Toffees and has probably just lacked confidence at times this season, but he needs a decent partner alongside him this term if the Merseyside outfit are to move up the standings and finally begin to challenge the top six clubs.
One player that could – and should – be on their radar is Ajax centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, who started both of the Netherlands’ friendly matches against England and Portugal in the week.
The talented 18-year-old was handed his fourth and fifth caps by former Toffees boss Ronald Koeman as part of a three-man defence in both clashes, and he impressed showing a maturity way beyond his years.
The teenager was certainly much-improved between the 1-0 defeat against the Three Lions and the clash against the Euro 2016 winners, and as well as his defensive qualities and basically keeping Cristiano Ronaldo in his back pocket, he also popped up with two assists at the other end of the pitch for Ronald Koeman’s men in a convincing 3-0 victory on Monday night.
De Ligt will certainly have impressed any suitors with his latest displays for his country, and there is no doubt that Everton will be one of them.
The Merseyside outfit will be looking to build for the future again this summer and the young Dutch defender would be ideal for them as he would be an ambitious addition that can grow with the club, as well as adding Champions League experience to the Toffees’ backline.
His confidence on the ball and his ability to make a quick decision while in possession mean that he would be perfect if Everton are looking to build from the back more often next season, while the 6ft 2in centre-back has proven that he can be a real threat in the final third of the pitch for them, too.
While it would likely be tough to bring him to Goodison Park given bigger clubs across Europe will be taking a closer look at him, the Merseyside outfit need to start competing for players like de Ligt if they are going to progress and improve, and he is certainly the sort of player they can build their team around – something that might convince the 18-year-old that a move to Everton would be the right decision.