Everton Football Club has had a busy summer transfer season so far in 2024. The Toffees have had several incomings and a few outgoings, including one major sale that helped the club turn a solid profit and provided extra funds to reinvest in the squad. Amadou Onana is the player under consideration here. The Belgian left Goodison Park for the Midlands and Aston Villa. The Villans paid £50 million for his services, a hefty profit for the Merseysiders, who paid £33 million to sign Onana from Lille in 2022. Everton has also sold Lewis Dobbin to Villa and Ben Godfrey to the Italian club Atalanta.
In terms of new signings, the Toffees signed a Villa player themselves. Tim Iroegbunam joined the club at the start of the transfer window, and Iliman Ndiaye also moved to Goodison Park from Marseille. Everton just signed Napoli winger Jesper Lindstrom on a season-long loan with the option to buy. Rumours have circulated that the Toffees may once again look to Serie A to sign a player who may create an ideal relationship with their new Danish winger.
Everton seeks Serie A midfielder. Weston McKennie, a Juventus and USA midfielder, is the Serie A player in question. The former Leeds United loanee is said to be unpopular with new manager Thiago Motta and could leave the Allianz Stadium this summer. According to Italian news outlet Calcio Mercato, McKennie might leave Turin this summer via the Toffees, with the Premier League club reportedly already in communication about a trade. The article adds that the ‘latest proposition’ came from Goodison Park, but they also explain that ‘there hasn’t been a definite offer’ from Everton at this time.
Indeed, Sean Dyche’s side is not the only Premier League club that has given McKennie the opportunity to leave the Old Lady this summer. Aston Villa made an offer for the American, but he turned it down, rejecting a salary of roughly €5 million (£4 million). In terms of McKennie’s pricing this summer, Everton must reach Juventus’ €20 million asking price. According to the source, there ‘simply no other way’ for Juve to agree to sell McKennie this summer.
Why McKennie would make a good signing The 25-year-old midfielder was a significant player for Juve under Massimiliano Allegri last season, but he is not in Juve’s plans for 2024/25. McKennie appeared 34 times in Serie A, recording an astounding seven assists. If the Toffees sign the American this summer, he may establish a unique connection with their new winger Lindstrom. The Dane is an excellent dribbler who uses his lanky stature to go past opponents. Lindstrom, a right-footed right-winger, enjoys maintaining width and delivering crosses into the box. McKennie might possibly operate in the half gaps on the right, while Lindstrom maintains width for the Toffees on the wing.
Last season, the Dane struggled in front of goal for Napoli, scoring zero goals. However, he certainly has a keen eye for goal, having scored seven goals and provided four assists in 27 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt the previous season. McKennie’s gifted imagination might help Lindstrom rediscover his best form and build an interesting collaboration with the Dane. Aside from his seven assists, McKennie’s FBref statistics demonstrate how dangerous he can be in the closing third. With an average of 0.24 assists per game, he ranked in the top 8% of all European midfielders. McKennie averaged 1.42 critical passes per 90 minutes for the Old Lady last season, placing him among Europe’s top 23% of midfielders.
McKennie averaged 1.42 critical passes per 90 minutes for the Old Lady last season, placing him among Europe’s top 23% of midfielders. Furthermore, the American is in the top 25% with an average of 0.97 passes into the penalty area. McKennie is undoubtedly a “underrated” player, as football talent scout Jacek Kulig put it. That was obviously evident in his inventive stats last season. If the Toffees complete this deal, they could be signing the ideal player to unlock Lindstrom and form a dream pairing to propel them up the table.
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