An update on Everton’s supposed interest in signing Allan from Napoli has emerged on social media.
According to Nicolo Schira, the 29-year-old middleman is still ‘the first choice’ for the Toffees’ manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Further to that, the Italian journalist claims that talks between the Merseyside club and the Serie A giants are continuing with a deal appearing as though it is yet to be reached.
However, the Goodison Park outfit are not the only club eyeing up the Brazilian midfielder.
As stated in Schira’s tweet, Spanish side Atletico Madrid have also ‘asked’ Napoli for information on Allan in the last few days.
The 29-year-old currently has three years left on his contract with his Serie A club and a market value of £28.8m, according to Transfermarkt.
TIF Thoughts…
When contemplating Allan’s statistics, it would appear that the 29-year-old midfielder would be a relatively solid signing for the Toffees.
This season, the midfielder has earned a 6.73/10 average rating over 18 appearances in Serie A (per WhoScored). Had the Brazilian earned the same average rating for Everton in the Premier League, then he would have been their ninth-best performer.
Would you be happy if Everton signed Allan from Napoli this summer?
No, he's not good enough
Yes, he's a class player
WhoScored also lists two of Everton’s weaknesses this season as being their ability to defend against skilful players and defending against through-ball attacks.
In comparison with midfield counterpart Tom Davies, it appears that Allan would help with one of these and hinder with the other.
In Serie A, Allan has made 2.6 tackles per match on average whereas Davies has made only 1.2 per game. However, the Brazilian has managed just 0.7 interceptions per outing, with Davies making 1.1 per league match.
So, it would seem that judging by the stats, the signing of the Napoli midfielder may strengthen Everton’s midfield in some respects but also weaken it in others.