Everton ‘target’ signs with Real Madrid

Going in to this offseason we all knew that if there was any position we needed a young talented player at immediately, it was at goalkeeper.

Wait... no, that’s not right at all.

England number 1 Jordan Pickford has that position on lockdown for all the foreseeable future and frankly I have no idea why anyone got the notion that we should be thinking about a prospect keeper of any sort. Nonetheless, the winds of silly season blow far and wide and link anyone perceived to have money with everyone perceived to need a move.

So, about a month ago we were linked with Zorya Luhansk keeper Andriy Lunin. Lunin is already a regular in the Ukranian league at the tender age of 19 and will probably turn out to be a good keeper. Real Madrid has come in and collected his signature which makes sense given that Keylor Navas is getting older and does not have a clear successor in house (with apologies to Luca Zidane who I definitely don’t think only got playing time because of who his daddy was).

According to the Mirror report, Liverpool were also in for the goalie - because the surest fix for when your starter and his backup are most famous for their boneheaded mistakes is bringing in a teenager - but this could explain Everton interest. Clubs often try to buy players or at least negotiate with players to complicate the transfer pursuits of their rivals.

It’s not a transfer idea that I support; frankly I think getting summer business right is hard enough without keeping an eye across town. Followers of world football know how bad a signing Andre Gomes has been for FC Barcelona, what they don’t remember is that Barcelona signed him to spite rivals Real Madrid who were also in for him. This is just a notable example of how this sort of thing can go wrong.

Besides, Everton’s needs lie elsewhere along the backline as well as more creativity across the pitch. With Joel Robles gone and Maarten Stekelenburg’s future unclear, the Blues could use a proven Premier League player who should be able to hold down the fort adequately in the early rounds of the Cups.

Even if Lunin turns out to be a very good player, I think Real Madrid has done Everton a favor by taking away a distraction we don’t need. Sometimes missing out on a prospect hurts your team, and sometimes it simply helps you focus on what you really need.