Steve Hitchen would be a 'very shrewd' addition for Everton, Alex McLeish has told Football Insider. 

The lowdown

The publication reported from Goodison sources on Thursday that Everton had offered the director of football position to Hitchen after Farhad Moshiri gave his blessing.

All that remains is to agree the terms of Hitchen's contract, and then the appointment will be 'rubberstamped'.

The 45-year-old stepped down from his post at Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month, having been 'marginalised' following the arrival of Fabio Paratici as managing director of football (via The Guardian).

And Everton are looking to replace Marcel Brands, who departed the club in December.

The latest

McLeish backed the prospective appointment of Hitchen, whose 'experience' of working in English football will be particularly valuable.

He thinks new manager Frank Lampard will be grateful to have someone to do the 'hard hours' for him when it comes to recruitment.

"On paper, it's all good," the former Rangers and Scotland manager said. "Steve's got a good name.

"It's not as if they're bringing in a young guy who doesn't know the elements of the Premier League. Steve has good experience.

"Hitchen could be a very shrewd signing in the backroom team. Let's face it, managers don't get out and about.

"People used to be able to phone a manager and say: 'Have you seen this player playing there?' and the manager would say: 'I'll go and see him.'

"These guys do all that, they do those hard hours for you. Their knowledge and analytic methods of the modern world are much more prevalent these days."

The verdict

Hitchen has a fairly good track record both in terms of his eye of talent and his ability to negotiate deals.

At Liverpool, he was the driving force behind the signing of Luis Suarez, who won the Premier League Golden Boot after a 31-goal season in 2013/14, while at Spurs he advocated a deal for Lucas Moura, whose 38 goals include a hat-trick in a Champions League semifinal.

When Mauricio Pochettino wanted Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso in the final summer before his departure, he delivered.

You can see, then, why both Moshiri and Lampard might be keen to work with him.

Everton's recruitment has been 'so bad', according to Sky Sports' Michael Bridge. Can Hitchen be the man to change that?

In other news, Everton are targeting this Championship ace.