Everton in January pursuit of midfield enforcer available at cut-price fee – reliable journalist
Everton have entered the race to sign midfielder Jean Michael Seri from French club Nice, according to a reliable journalist.
Guardian’s deputy news editor Ed Aarons reported on his personal Twitter account that the Toffees are interested in landing the 26-year-old in the January transfer window.
It is understood that Premier League rivals Manchester City and Chelsea are also keen on the Ligue 1 sensation.
The Ivory Coast international is believed to be available for £25million in the New Year, which would be a cut-price fee after a summer move broke down.
Barcelona reportedly tabled a £35.2million bid for the central midfielder last summer, but that was rejected by Nice’s president Jean-Pierre Rivere.
Seri is a powerhouse midfielder that has been tipped to make a big-money move and he has been in good form this season.
He usually plays a defensive midfield role in front of the back four, but also has an attacking edge to his game and has chipped in with five assists in 20 games this campaign.
Football Insider verdict
Seri is a powerful box-to-box central midfielder that would be a stunning signing for Everton, but surely he will be beyond their reach despite a low £25million price tag. The Toffees should consider returning to a midfield combination of Tom Davies and Idrissa Gueye moving forward, who will have a good blend to compete in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Morgan Schneiderlin’s form has dropped off considerably this campaign and manager Sam Allardyce will hope he can rediscover his top form. Seri would no doubt improve the Toffees XI if he moved to Goodison Park, but it’s surely more likely an elite side would snap him up ahead of them.
In other Everton transfer news, they are set to block the exits of two in-demand players.
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