Everton Plotting Ambitious Double Swoop for Barcelona Defensive Stars Ahead of New Season

With Marco Silva now firmly installed in Everton’s managerial hot seat and Marcel Brands overseeing proceedings as the new director of football at Goodison Park, a focussed and ambitious transfer campaign is expected to take place on Merseyside.

The Toffees are yet to make a senior signing as yet this summer, but according to the Mirror, the Everton transfer team are plotting big moves to kick their pre-season recruitment into gear.

The report suggests that Brands is prepared to orchestrate a stunning double swoop on La Liga giants Barcelona for two key defensive signings, with French left back Lucas Digne and Colombian World Cup star Yerry Mina on the agenda at Goodison.

Following Barcelona’s recent capture of Clement Lenglet from Sevilla, it is believed that Mina would now be fifth-choice in Ernesto Valverde’s defensive ranks behind Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Thomas Vermaelen and Lenglet.

Mina has, however, enjoyed a stunning World Cup campaign in Russia this summer at the heart of Colombia’s defence, and has earned a host of admirers through his standout performances, with Everton apparently among them.

With age not on the side of current central defensive options Phil Jagielka and Ashley Williams at Everton, 23-year-old Mina could be an ideal signing to inject fresh impetus into the core of Marco Silva’s defence.

Speaking recently at a Fiat sponsor event, Mina is quoted in the Mirror’s report admitting that he may have to question his future at the Camp Nou, saying: “I want to make the best decision. I fulfilled a dream coming to Barcelona, but this year I have had very difficult moments. I want a team where it’s quiet and has minutes.

“It’s not easy to watch matches and teammates on TV. When I came to the World Cup and I was not a headline, I also had a downturn, especially against Japan.”

Whilst a move to Goodison Park would seem to be an ideal fit for both club and player in his search for more game time away from Catalonia, prising full back Digne away from the Camp Nou to Merseyside may prove more difficult.

The Frenchman failed to make Didier Deschamps’s France World Cup squad this summer having failed to usurp Jordi Alba as Barcelona’s first-choice left back last season, and the 24-year-old has been a largely peripheral figure since his £15m signing from Roma in 2016.

Barcelona have apparently therefore told the full back that he may leave this summer provided that a suitable offer is received. Digne is reportedly also of interest to Juventus and Bayern Munich, however, meaning that Everton may struggle to beat off higher profile competition to secure the Frenchman’s services.

It is said, though, that Marcel Brands is determined to recruit players of a high calibre at Goodison this summer, and having been quoted £25m to lure Kieran Tierney from Celtic, an intensified pursuit of Digne, alongside Mina, could make better sense in the Dutchman’s efforts to add star quality to Marco Silva’s playing ranks this summer.