Bryan King makes ‘more money than sense’ Abdoulaye Doucoure Everton admission
Goodison News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent over eight years as a scout at Everton and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Bryan also spent six years on Tottenham’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells…
Bryan King has predicted Saudi Arabian clubs to assess Abdoulaye Doucoure’s Everton situation in the summer transfer window.
The former scout believes the clubs would rather consider a move for the midfielder than as opposed to now given his current injury.
As per Fabrizio Romano (24 January), Al-Ettifaq have sent Everton a formal approach regarding their interest in Doucoure.
The midfielder is, however, currently on the sidelines, with manager Sean Dyche explaining it is a long-term problem [Liverpool World, 25 January].
Doucoure has impressed for the Toffees this season, with the 31-year-old netting six goals from his 18 Premier League games.
Speaking to Goodison News, King said: “I could see the Saudi clubs assessing the situation in the summer. You’ve got to have more money than sense if you’re going to buy an injured player who has been sitting around for months.
“Invariably all these clubs have got European managers. They can afford to pay big money, but you can’t afford to have a player sitting on the sidelines for three months. That would be something new, that’s for sure.
“This is what’s going to happen, they are bringing over senior players as we call them, over 30. When they get injured anyway, their recovery is much longer than what it was when they were 25/26.
“So I don’t think the league has hit the floor running as what they expected it to. You have Cristiano Ronaldo not performing to what he used to, but he’s in his late 30s. Neymar, Jordan Henderson. Henderson has escaped from his nightmare in Saudi apparently.”
In other Everton news, the Toffees are “huge fans” of one Leicester City star as a late January development emerges.
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