Report: January Everton target will be available in the summer
Although Everton were linked with plenty of new signings in the January transfer window, there were precious few actual incomings.
Teenage defender Jarrad Branthwaite arrived from Carlisle United, but that was hardly a first team addition.
You wonder, then, whether Marcel Brands and Carlo Ancelotti are gearing up for a big summer transfer window instead.
There are certainly a fair few holes to fill in this Toffees squad, with central midfield being one of the biggest.
Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin have been long-term injury absentees, while the likes of Fabian Delph and Morgan Schneiderlin have disappointed.
It’s no surprise, then, that the club are said to be interested in doing a deal for Inter Milan midfielder Matias Vecino.
Italian outlet Calcio Mercato reported on Friday that the Toffees are one of two Premier League teams interested in the £20million-rated Uruguay international.
Inter are willing to sell the 28-year-old as they look to fund a move for Barcelona star Arturo Vidal. Chelsea are also in the hunt for Vecino.
Is the summer the time to sign Vecino?
It was reported in January, of course, that the Toffees had made contact with Inter over the midfielder.
A deal obviously didn’t get done then, but it would appear that Vecino will be able to leave Antonio Conte’s side come the summer.
However, by that point Gomes and Gbamin should hopefully be up to full fitness, with Delph, Schneiderlin, Tom Davies and Gylfi Sigurdsson other central midfield options for Ancelotti.
You’d have to say, though, that Vecino is probably as good as any of them. So, yes, a summer deal for the Inter man would be ideal.
In other Everton news, former Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher has had his say on Jordan Pickford.