Everton, Toffees, Premier League, Aster Vranckx
Everton are competing with three clubs for the signature of Wolfsburg midfielder Aster Vranckx, according to Voetbalkrant.com, as the youngster has gone missing from his current team’s plans.
The lowdown
Central midfielder Vranckx only joined Wolfsburg from Belgian club KV Mechelen last summer for a fee of £7.2million.
He would make 24 Bundesliga appearances, and play four Champions League games too, in his first year at the Volkswagen Arena.
But so far this season, he’s logged just seven minutes of action, watching on from the bench against Werder Bremen on the opening day and missing out on the squad altogether against Schalke on Saturday.
The latest
The report states that AC Milan have now joined the race to sign Vranckx, having been impressed by his breakthrough campaign last term.
Vranckx’s omission from the squad on Saturday suggests the interest is ‘more than concrete’.
Everton are interested too, along with fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest and Ligue 1 outfit Lille.
Vranckx is said to be available for a fee of €10million, which equates to about £8.4million.
The verdict
What kind of midfielder is Vranckx? Well, he’s actually fairly similar in profile to Abdoulaye Doucoure, according to FBRef, ranking in the 86th percentile for shots per 90, the 95th for dribbles completed, the 94th for pressures and the 84th for tackles.
Indeed, football journalist Ronan Murphy has billed him as ‘a brilliant all-rounder’.
[freshpress-quiz id=”389207″]
He’s an exciting talent, as evidenced by his nomination for this year’s Golden Boy award, given to the standout under-21 player in Europe’s top five leagues.
For a fee of just £8.4million, this looks it could be very good business for Everton.
About the Author
