Everton are mulling over a move to acquire the services of Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph, it has been reported.
The Toffees are ready to hand him a fresh start in the Premier League and could be available for a fee of about £16million, it has been claimed by The Sun.
Under the tutelage of Marco Silva, Everton finished eighth in the English top flight in the previous campaign with 54 points to their name.
In order to make a serious challenge for a European spot in the upcoming season, they have to bring in reinforcements to enhance the quality of their artillery.
Silva has already lured two quality players in Andre Gomes and Jonas Lossl to the Goodison Park this summer but is still keen to do some more business.
Delph has entered into the final year of his contract with Manchester City and Everton are targeting him to boost their midfield unit.
Fabian Delph till now
Delph spent his youth career at Bradford City and Leeds United and then went on to represent the senior sides of the Whites and Aston Villa.
Back in the summer of 2015, the midfielder initially rejected a move to the Etihad Stadium only to change his mind later in the summer with trouble brewing at Villa Park.
His exit caused widespread criticism and the agony of the fans was aggravated by the fact that the East Midlands club managed to get merely £8million from his sale.
He has had a stop-start stint at City and even though he reinvented himself as a left-back in the 2017-18 season and played a crucial role in City’s ‘Centurions’ season, he failed to build on it and appeared only 13 times last season. He mostly caught the attention of the fans with some high profile errors and is expected to be offloaded this time around.
The arrival of Rodri has pushed him further down the pecking order in the reserve midfield unit while the emergence of Zinchenko at left-back has resulted in his demotion at left-back as well.
What will Delph offer Everton?
Delph is a proven player in English football and his experience could help Everton. He is a clever passer of the ball and has the ability to dictate the tempo of the game.
Renowned for his dribbling skills, the English international is expected to feature more prominently thanks to his versatile nature and that is one aspect which might entice Delph as well.
Everton took time to get going last season and Silva will want to have all his bases covered in order to challenge for a top 6 finish and Delph’s experience and winning mentality will come in handy especially during the tricky phases of the campaign.