As per Metro, Everton are alert to Marcos Rojo’s current situation at Manchester United, who are willing to let the Argentinian leave the club in January. The Toffees, therefore, are working towards attaining his services, though they could face stiff competition from newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Rojo has appeared out of favour in the ongoing season struggling with frequent injuries as well as lack of form and a move away from Old Trafford seems logical with the Red Devils looking to bring in a new centre-back. But, will he be an ideal buy for Everton?
Marcos Rojo: Player profile
Rojo was initially brought in by Louis Van Gaal back in 2014 and he was advertised as a versatile defender, who was blessed with immense technical prowess.
However, his career at United has been marred by injuries, as he has suffered nine different spells on the sidelines throughout his time at Old Trafford.
That being said, Rojo is undoubtedly a talented individual, whose biggest strength is his versatility. Indeed, the Argentine international can be deployed as a left-back despite being generally distinguished as a centre-half.
Additionally, he excels in ball distribution and notably attained over 90% passing accuracy for Argentina in the World Cup this summer, despite a horrendous campaign for the team.
But, it’s his experience which makes him an appealing target. Rojo has almost 60 appearances for his country whilst making over 100 appearances for United. And at the age of 28, he is certainly an attractive candidate for most Premier League sides.
Can Rojo fit into Everton?
Even though things are slowly falling into place for Everton from an attacking perspective, defensively, they have struggled this season, especially with Yerry Mina remaining on the sidelines for the most part of the season so far.
In addition, the Toffees shouldn’t be very hopeful of keeping Kurt Zouma at the club while Phil Jagielka has already entered the final phase of his career. Thus, Rojo’s addition to the side will certainly help fortify the iffy defensive rank.
However, Rojo may not necessarily be the best option given his injury-prone nature. Although the 28-year-old is undoubtedly a talented defender, he has struggled with a host of injuries since joining Man United.
Therefore, splashing the cash on yet another injury-prone defender might not be the most logical decision, especially when first-team defender Mina, himself, has missed a chunk of the season due to the same. The Toffees have failed to have a solid reliable pairing at centre-back for quite some time now and Silva will want to sort that out as soon as he finalises his long-term options.
It will be interesting to see what Marco Silva has in mind once the transfer window opens at the turn of the year.
Stat courtesy: Whoscored
