Alex Iwobi’s early-season form has dipped, Everton must secure replacement in Daichi Kamada this summer
Everton playmaker Alex Iwobi has suffered a dramatic drop in performance levels since the World Cup, and the Toffees may already have their ideal replacement lined up in Japanese ace Daichi Kamada.
The 26-year-old who starred at the World Cup for Japan has long been on the trails of Premier League clubs recently with his contract expiring at Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of June.
The Toffees have indeed been previously linked with the talented midfielder with transfer insider Dean Jones [GiveMeSport, 14 February] claiming that the Merseysiders have Kamada on their radar.
German news outlet BILD [12 July] have also credited the Toffees with a strong interest in Kamada, but with his contract situation up in the air, he will almost certainly be targeted by bigger clubs in the summer looking to sign him on a free.
90Min [10 February] also claimed that Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain are also in the mix to sign the Japan international.
With the Toffees in desperate need of attacking quality this summer, and in the event they secure their Premier League status come May, Kamada is a player they simply cannot ignore as they attempt to rebuild an ailing squad.
And one player who will be assessed in the coming months is Iwobi.
The Nigerian international was a consistent part of Frank Lampard’s set-up earlier on in the campaign, and he started the season off in sparkling form, enjoying a new role in midfield as well as contributing a goal and five assists between August and October.
However, since then the 26-year-old’s form has taken a dramatic nosedive. He’s failed to recapture some of those tremendous performance levels since the World Cup, registering no goals or assists since then which can of course be argued is a symptom of the team around him.
However, that doesn’t mean the Toffees shouldn’t stop sourcing replacements right now and plan ahead to a potential rebuild. Kamada will automatically be a stark upgrade on Iwobi and go a long way to filling in the gap left by Anthony Gordon.
The Japanese World Cup star has enjoyed another terrific campaign in the German Bundesliga, registering an impressive seven goals and four assists from 18 games and 13 in all competitions. And the playmaker is known to improve the players around him through his huge tactical understanding and intelligence both in the attack and defence.
Introducing a fresh perspective into the attacking threat at Goodison Park could be the addition Everton desperately needs to comfortably compete if they do remain in the top flight next season, and acquiring targets such as Kamada could go a long way in changing the narrative on the Blue half of Merseyside.