Everton should not hesitate to sign Abdoulaye Doucoure from Watford
According to the Mirror, Everton manager Marco Silva is keen on reuniting with Abdoulaye Doucoure in January.
Silva had a brief stint as the manager of Watford last season and is hopeful that his connections with the Frenchman might lure him to Merseyside. (h/t Mirror)
The move, if it materialises, will be Everton’s second raid on the Hornets this season, having already completed a mega-money £40 million move for Richarlison in the summer.
The 25-year-old has played every minute of Watford’s campaign in the Premier League so far and has been one of the cornerstones of Watford’s successful start to the season, putting in multiple solid shifts in central midfield alongside Etienne Capoue.
Doucoure has four assists to his name to show for his efforts but in all honesty, he has added that solidity and substance to Watford’s midfield and those figures do not actually reflect his overall contribution to the team.
Known for his ability to break up the play and win back possession for his team, Doucoure excels with his superior game-reading in central midfield. He has a good technique for a central midfielder which allows him to run comfortably with the ball at his feet.
Doucoure is a fluent passer and an efficient ball-distributor in midfield who likes to dictate the tempo of the game with his range of passing- short and long. He has the ability to change the point of the attack with accurate cross-field passes and diagonals. Furthermore, Doucoure is capable of dominating the opposition with his strength and aerial ability.
The 25-year-old has averaged 2 tackles, 1.4 clearances and 1.2 key passes per game in the Premier League this term. To go with that, he has averaged 55.3 passes per game with an accuracy percentage of 82.3, including 2.6 successful long balls per game, figures which speak volumes of his all-around abilities as a central midfielder.
To put things into perspective, Doucoure would be a good addition to Everton’s midfield. Idrissa Gana Gueye and Andre Gomes have done well in recent weeks, complementing each other well and dictating the tempo of the game. Both Gana Gueye and Gomes have added a lot of stability to Everton’s midfield but they do not have enough options on the bench should either of the players be sidelined with an injury.
Morgan Schneiderlin has fallen out of favour under Marco Silva after failing to impress the new manager in the opening stages of the season. He hasn’t featured in the first-team for a long time, which is enough to show that he is not really in the manager’s plans.
Tom Davies has also had his chances but Silva hasn’t been convinced by his displays either. Moreover, he is not the sort of player who can be relied upon to produce consistent performances throughout the season.
Read More:- 53.8 passes with an accuracy of 87.4% – Everton must push to sign this 25-year-old midfield beast permanently
Everton need more depth in their squad to challenge for a top-four spot in the future and the board should back Silva with the funds that he needs to build a quality squad for that purpose.
That said, Everton should go all out to land the Frenchman in January.
