According to a recent report from The Sun, Everton are interested in a summer move for defender Chris Smalling. The England international currently plays his football at Premier League giants Manchester United and has done so since leaving Fulham back in 2010, but with his contract up at the end of the current season, his future at Old Trafford is far from certain.
And reports suggest that Marco Silva’s Everton are keen on luring the £16.2 million-rated ace (as per Transfermarkt) to Goodison Park, but doing so would represent something of a Marcel Brands disasterclass given just how inconsistent and unreliable the centre back has been over the years.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, Dutchman Brands took over as the club’s director of football earlier this year and oversaw what many deemed to be a highly successful summer transfer window at Goodison Park, with several shrewd additions made to help Silva in his quest to take the Toffees to the next level.
Brands was able to convince the likes of Andre Gomes, Yerry Mina, and Lucas Digne to leave Barcelona for the blue half of Merseyside, while the additions of Kurt Zouma and big-money man Richarlison are looking even more like Brands masterclasses with every passing day.
Thus, Brands has performed brilliantly for the club so far and shown genuine ambition in the transfer window to try and take Everton towards the top six in the Premier League – yet a move for Smalling, even if it would be on a free, doesn’t smack of that ambition.
The 28-year-old made the move to United back in 2010 after impressing at fellow top-flight side Fulham, with the Englishman going on to appear over 300 times for the Red Devils in the last eight years, helping them win two Premier League titles as well as the Europa League back in 2017.
And while there have been occasions whereby the England international has shone for the North West giants, there have been too many times whereby he simply hasn’t convinced in the heart of the United backline – there’s a reason manager Jose Mourinho wanted centre backs during the most recent summer transfer window.
And while Everton themselves aren’t blessed with too many options in that area of the field, especially with Phil Jagielka likely to leave at the expiration of his contract, it’s a signing which wouldn’t smack of the same level of ambition as those over the summer – for example, Smalling hasn’t proven to be any better than Michael Keane in recent times.
Yes, with Jagielka likely to leave and Zouma only on loan until the summer, it’s unsurprising that Silva is in the market for a centre back, but he shouldn’t be in the market for the unconvincing Smalling – it’s a move which would represent something of a deviation from the masterclass Brands produced over the summer.
Everton fans… what do you think? Let us know!