Everton must quickly seek out replacements for declining Idrissa Gueye
Everton must quickly seek out replacements for declining midfielder Idrissa Gueye before the summer transfer window.
The 33-year-old rejoined the Toffees from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £2m last summer as Frank Lampard attempted to rebuild his midfield for this season.
However, the experienced midfielder has failed to live up to his billing so far in what’s been a torrid campaign for the Toffees fighting another needless relegation battle under new manager Sean Dyche.
The Toffees suffered their second defeat under Dyche in a disappointing 2-0 loss to Aston Villa at Goodison Park in which lapses in concentration and lack of a cutting-edge in attack ultimately cost them precious points in front of their own fans.
One of those lapses came from Gueye who tried to win the ball inside his own penalty area despite it being at a very awkward angle but tripped John McGinn for which the referee Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty.
And Everton journalist Gregg O’Keefe laid into the 33-year-old, stating that the former Paris Saint-Germain ace is doing more harm than good in Dyche’s team.
He said on the All Together Now podcast [16:45]: “I just think for someone we brought in to give us experience – yes he does that – but to give us fine margins with his Champions League experience, and international experience I just think he’s often creating more problems than he solves.”
Gueye was awarded with a torrid 5/10 performance against Villa, with the Liverpool ECHO describing him as “rash” for his hand in the penalty awarded to Villa.
The 33-year-old is certainly on the decline at Goodison Park, and already the decision to resign him last summer by Lampard and Toffees board has got to be deemed as incredibly baffling with the club desperately needing a much younger and fresher option to shield the back four.
Everton have already been linked with several potential options in recent weeks, with Benfica’s gifted young defensive midfielder Florentino Luis and TSG Hoffenheim’s Dennis Geiger being touted as long-term solutions.
Considering the potential and suitability of both players to Dyche’s team in the future, the Toffees must be quick to seek out replacements for the declining Gueye before this summer’s window kicks off.