Summary Everton have been looking at signing a defender in recent weeks. One option is valued at just £22m and plays for one of the top clubs in the Premier League. It could be a repeat of the move that saw Kurt Zouma join Goodison Park.
Everton have been patching up their attacking ranks this summer as Sean Dyche looks to craft a competitive team for the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, but bolstering the backline is just as important over the next few weeks.
Dynamic attacker Arnaut Danjuma and exciting young striker Youssef Chermiti have both been signed while the veteran Ashley Young will be expected to instil some composure and fortitude across the Toffees ranks.
The defence wasn't the crux of last season's issues, with Everton finishing the season as the division's second-lowest scorers, but with Yerry Mina and Conor Coady departing the club this summer, a well-placed reinforcement would go down a treat.
What's the latest Everton transfer news?
Everton have been credited with an interest in a 24-year-old centre-half over the past few weeks, but may well have been dissuaded from making a bid given the player's £45m valuation.
That man happens to be Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah, as per the Evening Standard, who linked him with a move to Goodison at the back end of July.
Read the latest Everton transfer news HERE…
However, according to a more recent report from Gianluca Di Marzo, the west London outfit have decided to place him on the market for a more reasonable fee, with his valuation depreciating to just €25m (£22m).
How good is Trevoh Chalobah?
The versatile defender only started 18 Premier League matches for Chelsea last season but completed an impressive 89% of his passes and succeeded in 63% of his ground duels. Impressive numbers for someone featuring so irregularly.
As per FBref, Chalobah ranks among the top 17% of centre-backs across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for attempted passes, the top 17% for progressive carries and the top 18% for successful take-ons per 90, clear evidence that he would enhance the robustness and flow of the Everton defensive third.
The £50k-per-week ace would, coincidentally, follow in his confrere Kurt Zouma's footsteps with a move to Merseyside, with the Frenchman formerly completing a loan move to Everton in 2018 from Chelsea, though this time the Toffees would have the opportunity to seal a permanent swoop.
Zouma impressed for the Goodison Park side, keeping ten clean sheets from 32 matches across the 2018/19 league campaign, making 3.8 clearances and winning 65% of his aerial battles.
At present day, for West Ham United, the 28-year-old ranks among the top 2% of positional peers for clearances and the top 13% for goals per 90, but Chalobah boasts attributes to underscore his superior ball-playing skills and this could be vital for Dyche's side, instilling composure and fluidity at the back.
Having been described as "impressive" and as a "soldier" by former boss Graham Potter, Chalobah would bring the battling mentality to aid Everton in their pursuit of prospects above the bottom of the Premier League table, where they have spent much of their time over the past two campaigns.
As highlighted above, Chalobah is accurate in his ground challenges, which could be imperative this season, especially considering last term Michael Keane won just 54% of his ground duels and Coady only 56%. An upgrade, then, could well be sourced here.
It's perhaps telling that Everton's eighth-place finish in the year Zouma spent at the club has not been achieved since, and as such, Dyche might be wise to target another talented defender from Stamford Bridge to increase the chances of a successful season.