Everton have apparently moved for veteran free agent defender

With the rumour mill humming along now that the Premier League season is complete, there has been no dearth of players being linked with Everton, especially so now that Carlo Ancelotti is in charge of the Blues.

Over the last few months we have seen a number of his former players from his more glorified stops at Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Napoli being linked with reunions with the veteran Italian manager, but last week we saw a new one that did not seem to make much sense.

Serbian publication Novosti claimed that defender Branislav Ivanovic, who is currently a free agent, was being targeted by Everton. The former Chelsea fullback at 36 does not seem to be the kind of player Marcel Brands would usually target, but if Ancelotti has identified him as someone who can be brought in to give the young team some teeth without breaking the bank then who would we be to argue.

Today another outlet Republika (via HITC) is reporting that the player himself has confirmed that he has indeed received an offer of a contract from the Toffees.

“I will probably continue my career at Everton. I received a good offer from them. I will see how things will turn out.

“So far, I have not received any offer from Red Star. If anyone calls me, then I will consider the offer. Now there is no need for me to think about moving to Belgrade,”

Trusted journalist Alan Myers seemed to indicate that the quotes might be fabricated.

At Chelsea for eight seasons, Ivanovic featured in 377 games primarily as right back, but has also played as the right-sided centrehalf in a three-man backline. In the three years since then, he has featured mostly centrally for Zenit St. Petersburg as they have gone on to win back-to-back Russian Premier League titles.

Everton have needs at right back with Seamus Coleman limited in his age, Jonjoe Kenny’s development still in progress and Djibril Sidibe’s loan completed with the Blues passing up on the opportunity to buy the player outright. Centrally, the Blues could use some of his experience as well with the current core all in their mid-twenties.

The Blues’ summer transfer window activity is going to be limited by the club’s limited earning potential thanks to yet another miserable finish in the league with no European football next season. A couple of shrewd buys of this nature with no transfer fee and reasonable wages might be critical for the Toffees to succeed next season. However, with how poorly the Fabien Delph signing went, fans will be justified in being wary of any players that the club is linked with.