Everton tipped for Iling-Junior move as Aston Villa, Tottenham interested
Everton target Samuel Iling-Junior would ‘gladly accept’ English move as Tottenham, Aston Villa also linked to January transfer
Samuel Iling-Junior would “gladly return to England” as in a move from Juventus in January and Everton could be back in the frame for him, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
The pink Italian paper reported via their website on 15 November that the English winger is “attracting attention from several observers” as he joined up with the England under-21s during the international break for what is seen as a potential “showcase” ahead of the winter window.
Valued at €15million [£13.08m] by Juve the former Chelsea youth player is “looking for a new team willing to give him guarantees” over game time, having featured just four times so far this season.
The Toffees and Aston Villa, both linked to a move for the 20-year-old in the summer, are tipped to be interested once again, while Tottenham have reportedly been evaluating the youngster amid a potential move to Turin for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
GdS do however suggest that teams may be more interested in waiting until the summer to move for him as he will have just a year left on his deal at that stage.
Now or never?
On the face of it Everton would likely wish to wait until the end of the season if they are to go in for Iling-Junior in a meaningful way.
So much of the situation at Goodison Park is up in the air financially, with the 777 takeover process rumbling on without certainty on what the final result will be, and the independent commission hearing having been concluded but as yet no word of the findings.
At the same time, Sean Dyche arguably needs the Juve winger less than he has at any point during his Toffees reign so far, with Dwight McNeil and Jack Harrison both performing well and Arnaut Danjuma available as back-up.
That is not to say that Everton should be getting overconfident about their current standing, and it is always better to reinforce from a position of, relative, strength rather than be chasing from one of desperation.
But it is unclear how much money there will be to spend in January, unless Kevin Thelwell can sort some more deals that pay nothing until further down the line as he did with Beto and Youssef Chermiti in the summer.
A stand-in for Abdoulaye Doucouré or more cover at full-back is probably a greater priority in January if there is cash available, but if Dyche likes Iling-Junior and there is a fear that waiting for a cut-price summer deal risks losing him elsewhere then perhaps he would be in the hierarchy’s sights in the New Year.
