Taylor Rockwell and Daryl Grove discussed the latest transfer rumours concerning footballers from the United States during the most recent edition of The Athletic’s Total Soccer Show and spent some time on the possibility of Everton signing Schalke midfielder Weston McKennie.
The 21-year-old United States international is under contract with current club Schalke until the end of June 2024, having signed a long-term deal with the club just last year. However, reports have been linking him with a move away from the Bundesliga side recently, with the midfielder revealing that it has always been his “dream” to play in England’s top flight.
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German publication Bild recently named Everton as a potential destination for the United States midfielder, claiming that the Toffees ‘could probably’ meet Schalke’s asking price for the player, expected to be ‘at least €25m‘ (£22.7m).
Grove shared his thoughts on McKennie potentially making a move to Goodison Park during the latest edition of the Total Soccer Show, saying: “Everton’s a really interesting one. There’s money to spend, Carlo Ancelotti is there, and I took a good look at their midfield – Fabian Delph, who’s been in and out with injuries; Jean-Philippe Gbamin, who has a horrible injury to his Achilles that keeps him out until 2021; Tom Davies, who it feels like he burst onto the scene full of running, but has never really progressed beyond being someone who’s full of running – he’s not really magnificent in possession or anything like this. I would even say Weston McKennie is an immediate upgrade on Tom Davies while offering the same amount of energy.
“Then Gylfi Sigurdsson is obviously a slightly different type of player, a more creative central midfield-type player. I think Weston McKennie could move to Everton and pretty quickly, work his way into that central midfield.”
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TIF Thoughts…
According to WhoScored, of the three midfielders the podcast host directly compared to the United States international, Gbamin has earned the highest average overall rating for the 2019/20 season, however, he has only played two league games this term, as his season has been blighted by injury.
Meanwhile, Davies and Delph are currently Everton’s 16th and 14th-highest-rated players in the Premier League this season respectively. With that in mind, it may be fair to say that the Toffees could potentially improve on their options in midfield.
McKennie earned an average overall rating of 6.78/10 for Schalke in the Bundesliga during the 2019/20 season, which makes him Schalke’s 10th-highest-rated player in the Bundesliga for the most recent season.
This isn’t an incredibly impressive rating, however, McKennie’s average of 1.6 interceptions per league game is the third-highest total in this area within the Schalke squad in the most recent Bundesliga season. The midfielder’s defensive contributions are among his strengths, according to WhoScored.
Only Djibril Sidibe has made more interceptions per game for Everton in the Premier League this season than McKennie made for Schalke in the Bundesliga during the 2019/20 campaign, and with that in mind, perhaps the 21-year-old could improve the defensive solidity of the Toffees’ midfield.