Everton must firm up approach to sign Koni de Winter as £8.6m transfer news emerge
Everton reportedly approached Juventus earlier this summer regarding the availability of defender Koni de Winter, but the Toffees could signify their ambitious intentions in the market by firming up their interest.
The Liverpool Echo reported on 2 August that Serie A giants had placed an £8.6million valuation on the 21-year-old centre-back amid interest from “hosts” of other European clubs.
De Winter underwent an impressive loan spell at Italian club Empoli last season, proving to be a useful first-team player, going on to feature 14 times so far this season which has caught the eye of a number of teams around Europe.
The young gifted defender has long been a target for Everton with TuttoJuve reporting on 14 July that Everton made an inquiry to Juventus for the defender’s services, for which Liverpool ECHO may well have been referring to.
Calcio Mercato on 8 April claimed that the Juventus wonderkid is worth £13.3m in today’s market, but that price tag now seems to have dropped to an opportunistic £8m-plus which Everton certainly must be licking their lips at.
With Everton undergoing a huge summer rebuild, acquiring young talents to help develop and nurture them seems the ideal way to go for the club to build a new and attractive team after this season’s struggles in the Premier League.
Their interest in Sporting’s Youssef Chermiti certainly points to that desire and refreshing new transfer recruitment policy and De Winter is an attractive young defensive proposition for the Toffees to explore this summer.
Having let go of Yerry Mina as his contract expired and allowed Conor Coady to return to Wolves at the end of his loan there looks to be a clear space for another defensive signing.
James Tarkowski and Michael Keane remain Dyche’s experienced and veteran options, while Jarrad Branthwaite will be hoping for a breakout Premier League campaign, and signing another young defender with the club’s future and sustainability in mind could certainly excite the Everton fanbase who have been desperate for a change of approach in the market after years of dreadful business.
Centre-back De Winter could be perfect in that respect, coming in as an exciting young option with a high ceiling, having won 14 caps for Belgium’s Under-21s, while his versatility – with Massimiliano Allegri seeing him as a right-back option – offers another potential asset to Everton.
Last season, he averaged a sizeable 4.5 clearances per game for Empoli – only Tarkowski (5.2) and Michael Keane (4.6) [WhoScored] averaged more for Everton – while he also completed 85.5% of his passes, showing that he is capable in possession, too.
While facing oncoming attacks, he is adept at tracking his man and nullifying potential threats. At just 21 years of age, he is very assured but remains a huge gamble. But his tremendous potential and room to develop into one of Europe’s best young defenders certainly mitigates that potential risk.
In other Everton news, the Toffees reportedly want to replace the outgoing Demarai Gray with a top West Ham forward.