Podcast pundits Andy and George Costigan have been discussing the recent transfer link between Everton and Manchester United defender Chris Smalling.
According to 90min, the Toffees are one of four Premier League outfits to have ‘shown an interest’ in the 30-year-old Englishman – with Fulham, West Ham United and Newcastle United also mentioned.
A report from The Sun earlier this month stated that the central defender would set a buyer back somewhere in the region of £20m to sign.
So, in the latest episode of the Talking the Blues podcast, Andy and George both discussed their thoughts on the transfer link.
George said: “You asked me a question before about the rumour about Chris Smalling and, you know, the rumour about will we buy him – that would be a waste of time and effort and money.
“He’s not what we need, not unless you’re going to play him [in] centre-midfield or something.”
Andy then continued: “Well, no. The only thing you would potentially put as a positive on Smalling is he’s played in Europe and he’s won a league title so he knows what needs doing.
“Frankly, no, I wouldn’t go anywhere near Chris Smalling, personally.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the two podcast pundits had to say, clearly neither believes that the Toffees should pursue an interest in trying to sign the central defender.
Would Chris Smalling be a good signing for Everton?
No, he's not good enough
Yes, he's a good player
However, during the 2019/20 Serie A season, the defender proved himself to be capable after he made an average of 0.8 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per league match (per WhoScored).
Everton’s Yerry Mina bettered Smalling’s tackling stat as he made 1.3 tackles per Premier League game, however, fell a long way short of Smalling’s interceptions as Mina made only 1.0 per game (per WhoScored).
So, perhaps that would suggest that the two central defenders have different strengths and could possibly complement each other well.