With funds understood to be tight at Everton as Financial Fair Play restrictions continue to bite, the Blues might do well to keep a keen eye on the UEFA European Under-21 Championship when it comes to potential transfer options this summer.
Sean Dyche has been taking a well-earned break at the Glastonbury music festival after steering Everton to Premier League safety last month, avoiding a first relegation in 72 years after replacing Frank Lampard at the end of January when the team were joint bottom of the table, but director of football Kevin Thelwell and his network of scouts could identify up and coming talent at the tournament in Georgia and Romania to relay back to the Blues boss.
Everton have already been linked this week with a move for one player taking part, Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville of Leeds United, who went down with the Yorkshire club on the final day of the 2022/23 season as the Blues stayed up.
He might not be the only player of interest involved though as Thelwell showed with Everton’s biggest purchase of last summer Amadou Onana. Although the Blues splashed out £33.5million on the Lille midfielder and the player only enjoyed a mediocre debut season in the Premier League, given his profile and potential, almost 12 months on he remains – along with England number one Jordan Pickford – one of only two truly high value assets within the squad in terms of potential resale value.
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Pickford of course signed for Everton back in 2017 when he was also competing for England in the U21 Euros alongside Mason Holgate. Sandro Ramirez was taking part for Spain that summer having already agreed his switch to Goodison Park, which shows how the talent-spotting can prove hit and miss.
In 2019, Everton trio Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jonjoe Kenny and Kieran Dowell all played for England in the tournament as did Ben Godfrey and Tom Davies in 2021 alongside future Blues team-mate Dwight McNeil while goalkeeper Zan-Luk Leban was in the Slovenia squad. Everton currently have James Garner and Jarrad Branthwaite – who spent last season on loan at PSV – taking part but who else might the Blues, who are prioritising attackers (both strikers and wingers) plus a left-back this summer, take a look at?
With all 16 competing nations now having played at least one match, here’s a rundown of 10 prospects that might fit the bill for Dyche’s squad.
Lois Openda (Striker, Belgium)
The 23-year-old netted 21 goals in 38 Ligue 1 games for French club Lens last season having previously turned out in his homeland for Club Brugge and then Dutch side Vitesse on loan, plundering 28 times in all competitions in 2021/22.
Nuno Tavares (Left-back, Portugal)
Arrived in the Premier League back in 2021, joining Arsenal from Benfica for £8million but after a difficult first season he was loaned out to Marseille last season. Perhaps Everton could give the 23-year-old a second chance in England, maybe with another temporary switch?
Octavian Popescu (Winger, Romania)
A twinkle-toed prospect from FCSB (formerly Steaua Bucharest who won the European Cup in 1986 in the season that Howard Kendall’s champions were denied their place by a post-Heysel ban on English teams), Popescu, 20, has supposedly been on Everton’s radar for over a year now having been linked to them in June 2022 when dormer Romanian international Ioan Andone claimed the wonderkid is talented enough to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Brian Brobbey (Striker, Netherlands)
A product of the fabled Ajax youth system where he worked alongside former Everton player John Heitinga, the centre-forward returned to Amsterdam a year ago and netted 13 goals in 32 Eredivisie games last term. Currently 21, his season in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig in 2021/22 didn’t work out as he failed to score in 14 outings in all competitions.
Amine Gouiri (Striker/winger, France)
Versatile attacker who can operate either down the middle or on the flanks, grabbing 15 goals in 33 games for Rennes last season. Now 23, he first burst on to the scene as a prodigious talent at the UEFA Under-17 European Championships in 2017, where he struck seven times.
Max Aarons (Left-back, England)
Everton have been linked with a potential move for the Norwich City player for a long time but that was as a right-back, the position where he’s spent most of his career. The Blues now have Nathan Patterson in situ as Seamus Coleman’s long-term successor but with both having struggled with injuries last term, perhaps there’s still an opening there while the 23-year-old Aarons was picked by former Everton favourite Lee Carsley on the left for the Three Lions’ 2-0 win over the Czechia in their opener, ironically because current Blues player Garner, a midfielder, was at right-back.
Youssoufa Moukoko (Striker, Germany)
A big prospect, the Cameroon-born 18-year-old has already been capped twice by Germany’s senior national team and might prove out of reach for Everton. Despite his tender years, the Bundesliga’s youngest ever player has made 72 appearances for Borussia Dortmund’s first team, scoring 12 times.
Juan Miranda (Left-back, Spain)
A product of ‘La Masia’ at Barcelona, Miranda, now 23, made just four senior appearances for the Catalan giants before being loaned out to German side Schalke and then Real Betis. He’s played fairly regularly for the Andalusian outfit for the past three seasons and netted on his international debut for Spain in a 4-0 win over Lithuania in 2021 when the Under-21s were promoted en masse due to Sergio Busquets’ positive Covid-19 test.
Oscar Gloukh (Winger, Israel)
Still just 19, Gloukh was a star for the Israelis at last summer’s European U19 Championship, scoring four times including a goal in the final when his side were beaten 3-1 by England. Having started his career at Maccabi Tel Aviv, he penned a four-and-a-half year contract with Austrians Red Bull Salzburg in January and has netted twice in five outings for his senior national team.
Maxim De Cuyper (Left-back, Belgium)
Tall for a full-back at 6ft 1in, De Cuyper has just completed a two-year loan at Westerlo from Club Brugge. Now 22, he also has an eye for a goal, helping Westerlo to promotion in 2021/22, netting six times, and then helping himself to eight goals in the top flight last season, four of which came from the penalty spot while another – like McNeil for Everton against Newcastle United – came directly from a corner kick.
