The Rumour Mill — Close Season Week 2

Please note—and it’s frightening that we even have to have this disclaimer: This is a rumours page and features just that—rumours; stories we have read, heard, or that have been passed on to us by various clickbait merchants. Take with a massive pinch of Halite.

We are officially into Week 2 of the close season, and on the brink of imminent transfers if the clamour of clickbait sites is anything to go by, with David Moyes not just looking for a right-back and a striker — he’s looking to replace the entire matchday squad!

The biggest talking point on the forums this week isn't even a player we own. Anthony Gordon’s astronomical £70M move from Newcastle to Barcelona has sent shockwaves through the fanbase, mostly because we are all frantically trying to calculate the exact percentage of the sell-on clause. While the accounts department at the Hill Dickinson Stadium figures out if that 15% profit kickback buys us a new striker or just pays the electricity bill for the new ground, the media has happily spent the hypothetical windfall for us.

Rather than trying to track each and every spurious linkage, as we did last year, here is our look at just a handful of the latest names being kicked around the floor of the Rumour Mill:

The Heavyweight Striker Hunt: Artem Dovbyk & Jhon Durán

With the Beto experiment failing to set the Everton world alight, the Rumour Mill has dictated that Everton need a physical focal point, upfront and personal, to lead the line. Accordingly, we are locked in a four-way battle with West Ham, Leeds, and Sunderland for Roma’s Artem Dovbyk, who is allegedly surplus to requirements under Gian Piero Gasperini. If that falls through, the fallback option is reportedly Fenerbahçe’s Jhon Durán.

Dovbyk was a €40M player not that long ago; are we genuinely expecting Roma to hand him over on a budget loan because of the TFG link and Moyes needing to have a big lad up top? As for Durán, he’s been linked with a move back to England every 6 months since leaving Aston Villa. This smells like agents using Everton's historical need for a goalscorer to flush out actual bids from elsewhere.

The Defensive Overhaul: Ben White & Enzo Boyomo

With Seamus Coleman’s contract expiring and the backline needing a refresh, the clickbait merchants have gone big. The headline grabber is a speculative report that Everton are monitoring Arsenal’s Ben White to solve our perennial right-back dilemma. Meanwhile, Sport Witness claims we are actively scouting Osasuna’s 24-year-old Cameroon international centre-back Enzo Boyomo, who has a €25M release clause. 

Ben White? You cannot be serious! He was a regular starter for a team consistently fighting at the absolute top of the table. Even with The Friedkin Group's backing, the idea of him trading Champions League football for a rebuilding project on the banks of the Mersey seems laughable... except for the fact that he did his knee in and missed the last part of the season, suggesting a cut-price deal could well be on the cards. 

Boyomo is slightly more realistic, but the reports state Brighton and Sunderland are also willing to trigger the clause. If it comes down to a bidding war for an unproven La Liga defender, expect the all-seeing, all-knowing recruitment team to say "Thanks, but no thanks."

The Moyes Boys Out Of Favour: Tomáš Souček & Nathan Aké

A new angle has emerged this week focusing on players facing uncertain futures at their current clubs. There are rumblings that Moyes is keen on a reunion with West Ham’s Tomáš Souček to add some much-needed steel and late-box-entry goals to the midfield. Concurrently, reports out of Manchester suggest Nathan Aké is assessing his options at City, with Everton listed alongside Bournemouth as an "interested party."

Souček is the quintessential Moyes player — honest, hardworking, and great in the air. But at this stage of the rebuild, do we really want to be buying West Ham’s aging transition-era remnants?

As for Aké, he’s a left-sided centre-back who can cover full-back. While he’d be a brilliant addition, Bournemouth are reportedly positioning themselves as the frontrunners to bring him back to the South Coast. We won't be breaking the wage structure for Manchester City's squad rotation players anymore.

The Continental Wildcard: Diego Leite

Finally, Union Berlin’s 27-year-old Portuguese defender Diego Leite has been tossed into the Rumour Mill. The clickbait sites claim Everton are in a three-way battle that includes a massive contract offer from the Saudi Pro League to land the Bundesliga man in a bargain summer deal.

Whenever you see "Everton face Saudi battle", you can safely close the tab. If the player is looking for one final, massive payday in the desert, he isn't going to choose a disciplined Premier League wage structure and rigid team discipline under David Moyes.

The Gordon sell-on fee seems to have given the tabloids a convenient excuse to link us with higher-tier talent this week, but the reality is likely to be far more mundane. Until the transfer window officially opens on 15 June, we should perhaps remain flegmatically unmoved by these tantalising suggestions.

 

Read more - The Rumour Mill — Close Season Week 1

 

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