Everton in the hunt for versatile La Liga attacker: Just what Allardyce needs?

As per one of the latest reports by The Daily Star, Everton are plotting a deal to side Atletico Madrid attacker, Nicolas Gaitán. A transfer fee of £18million has been reported, although it won’t be that easy for the Toffees to secure his signature as the likes of West Ham United and Southampton are also very keen on signing him.

Everton, currently under the stewardship of Sam Allardyce, have sort of hit a rough patch again after a good patch when the gaffer first arrived. Their last four games have yielded merely a couple of points and they were even knocked out of the FA Cup by their arch-rivals, Liverpool, as Jürgen Klopp’s men secured a 2-1 win over them in the third round tie at Anfield last weekend.

In the league standings, they are comfortably sitting in the top half of the table with 27 points to their name after 22 outings. However, merely finishing in the top half wasn’t the target when the season began.

Under Big Sam, the target is to of course finish as high up the table as possible but to do that, the squad needs to be more balanced. Allardyce is looking to beef up his attacking arsenal and no wonder he has put Gaitán on his radar, for the player is desperately looking for opportunities.

Why Gaitán could move…

The Argentine international has been handed just 1 start in La Liga by Diego Simeone and it seems that he has fallen out of favour at his current club. He has been told that he can leave the club this wonder, which has alerted Everton, for a player of his calibre can certainly add more bite to Everton’s attack. Gaitán can ply his trade on either wing.

He emerged through the youth ranks of Boca Juniors and having made a name for himself after being promoted to their senior side, he was signed by Benfica. He proved to be a hit there too. In the summer of 2016, he was signed by the Spanish giants, but seeing his current state at the club, an exit seems like an inevitable outcome for him.

The 29-year-old would be keen to resurrect his career to get into the Argentine side for the World Cup and to do so, he needs to have more game time under his belt. Everton could be an ideal choice for him and if the move materialises, it could be a decent outcome for all the parties involved.