According to reports by ESPN on March 8, Southampton are interested in signing Basel winger Mohamed Elyounoussi this summer after scouting him in his side’s win against Manchester City in the Champions League earlier this month, with the player confirming via The Sun last week that an English club would have to pay £18m for his services.
The Norway international has been one of the Swiss outfit’s standout performers over the last few years and it seems as though he will finally secure a move away at the end of the season, especially after he destroyed John Stones and his fellow City defenders at the Etihad Stadium by scoring one and assisting the other in the 2-1 victory.
Saints will certainly be in need of some extra attacking impetus if they retain their Premier League status, having only scored 29 goals in their 30 top flight matches this term which has left them in 18th position and two points from safety.
Meanwhile, Everton are another club that will be looking to strengthen their squad following a disappointing campaign, and the Merseyside outfit may be targeting reinforcements in the final third if they are to push for the top four next term, despite the arrivals of Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun during the January transfer window.
If that is the plan for Sam Allardyce or another new manager with the 63-year-old’s future far from certain, Elyounoussi should be on the radar.
Here are three reasons the Toffees must hijack Southampton’s bid to sign the 23-year-old…
Everton have used both 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 systems in recent weeks, and if they are to keep using those into next season they will probably need some more competition on the left-hand side.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Gylfi Sigurdsson have both played there but look more comfortable through the centre, while Yannick Bolasie is struggling to regain the form he was showing prior to the injury which kept him on the sidelines for the best part of a year, with the Goodison Park faithful bashing him after his latest comments about Sam Allardyce.
The Toffees may want to bring in a new attacker to fight with the former Crystal Palace man for a spot in the XI, and Elyounoussi could be the perfect addition seeing as he currently features on that side for both Basel and Norway.
The 24-year-old has shown the qualities he can bring to Goodison Park with seven goals and 13 assists in 34 appearances in all competitions for Basel this season, and he has 17 goals and 26 assists in 74 outings in total for the Swiss club.
The Norway international has proven that he score and create, while he loves to run at defenders and successfully completed 17 of the 26 dribbles he attempted in eight Champions League appearances this term, according to WhoScored.com.
The fact that he has experience of playing in Europe’s elite club competition would help Everton, and it appears to be something they are looking at in potential new additions given they signed Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott in January.
While Everton are ambitious and have shown that they are willing to splash the cash when needed, they will also be looking for good value in the transfer market too, and Elyounoussi would certainly provide that if he is available for £18m.
Given the quality that he clearly has and the fact that he has played at the highest level for Basel, it would be something of a no-brainer to try and bring him to Goodison Park for that price, which isn’t really too high in the modern-day era of crazy transfer fees.
Do you agree, Toffees fans? Let us know below.
