Lampard wants new Everton midfield signings, needs to offload Goodison players first
Frank Lampard wants Everton to sign new midfielders during the January transfer window, but may have to sell to buy according to Daily Mail.
The Toffees brought in eight first-team players during the summer including James Garner, Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye in midfield, but Lampard is said to want further bolstering during the winter.
But with several players out of contract in the summer and others out of favour, the Mail report that Lampard may need to sell players to free up wages in order to bring in new faces.
“Lampard would also like to boost his midfield options in January, but may need to see current players offloaded to free up wages,” they wrote (23 December).
Abdoulaye Doucoure has been linked with a move to Nottingham Forest and Fulham, while Tom Davies and Yerry Mina are also said to be free to leave.
Necessary
The Everton squad was in a bad place when Lampard joined the club last year, and since he came to the club he has done a great job of trying to rebuild and restructure the squad.
He has targeted young players generally for positions, with the likes of Onana, Garner and Dwight McNeil brought in.
With several players in the position where their contract is likely to expire in the summer, getting them out slightly earlier will help the club to accelerate that process.
Lampard has surely already made a decision in his mind about who he wants to keep at the club and who he wants to keep around, so if the club can work towards making that a possibility it would leave the side in a far better position for the summer.
There should be other priorities in January, namely a striker to help get goals into the side, but midfielders are needed too.