Everton among host of clubs chasing Ligue 1 midfielder

One of the areas that Everton need to reinforce this summer is in the midfield, with Morgan Schneiderlin struggling through an inconsistent - at best - campaign, Wayne Rooney and Mo Besic on their way out, James McCarthy injured...anyway, you get the picture.

Ideally, the type of player brought in would be that of all ball-mover. Think Mousa Dembele at Tottenham. Someone who can dribble and pass his way out of trouble, but isn’t necessarily going to get stuck in or play a killer final pass.

A report from Sky Sports this evening indicate that the Blues have been scouting around just that type of player in LOSC Lille’s Yves Bissouma.

Everton’s interest in Bissouma was thought to have been held by ex-head of recruitment Steve Walsh before he was sacked along with manager Sam Allardyce last week.

Marcel Brands has since taken over as sporting director and the club remain keen to strengthen their midfield with a player of Bissouma’s profile.

Sky Sports

It is, of course, a little risky to buy a player from France, albeit probably safer than buying from Holland or Russia. Bissouma, 21, hails from Mali, and played 28 times for his club this season, notching 3 goals and 1 assist.

Tottenham, Schalke, and Monaco are also rumoured to be interested, and make no mistake - Bissouma would be a bit of a project, but if TransferMarkt’s €4 million evaluation is correct, might be a project worth taking on.