Everton have endured a poor start to the season. They’re 18th in the Premier League and have the fifth-worst defensive record after eight games. It’s been two months since the Toffees kept a clean sheet – 1-0 vs Watford (August 17) – and they’ve conceded two or more goals in five of the six games that followed.
After letting Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams and Matthew Pennington leave, Marco Silva is short on options at centre-back. The Everton manager only has Michael Keane, Yerry Mina & Mason Holgate at his disposal. Keane & Holgate have both struggled for form too, so the January transfer window may be key for Everton to strengthen at the back.
They tried and failed to sign Kurt Zouma from Chelsea over the summer and may return for him in the coming months. But Everton can’t afford to put all their eggs into one basket, so they should have other transfer targets lined up just in case – Ibrahima Konaté (RB Leipzig), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Adama Soumaoro (LOSC Lille), Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United).
Signing a centre-back could be essential to keeping Everton in the Premier League.