Some Everton supporters have been reacting on social media to reports by The Times, claiming the Toffees have held talks with LOSC Lille over a summer transfer for Zeki Celik.
It is claimed Everton have spoken with Lille about signing Turkey international Celik, in a move which would once again pit the Goodison Park outfit against Tottenham Hotspur in the race for a potential target.
The Toffees and Spurs are already going toe-to-toe over the transfer of Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who Jose Mourinho has identified as a priority signing in north London only to see his side’s cut-price offer undercut by Everton.
Clubs looking to snap up Celik in the current transfer window will be obliged to pay €20million (£17.9m), with Lille reluctant to lose the 23-year-old on the cheap after two seasons with the Ligue 1 outfit.
Celik is noted to be a ‘good provider of crosses’ while ‘powerful in defensive duels’, and been earmarked by Mourinho as a player who can help bring ‘more balance’ to his Tottenham backline.
Lots of Everton fans are seemingly hopeful of Mourinho failing to land his man, with many open to seeing Carlo Ancelotti add the 14-cap right-back to his side even if a few feel Celik may be ‘too good’ for the Blues.
Celik started all 23 of his Ligue 1 appearances during the 2019/20 campaign, in which he helped Lille to 11 clean sheets thanks to an average of 2.3 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, 1.4 clearances, 3.4 ground duels won and 1.0 aerial duels won per game, according to Sofa Score.
He also averaged 0.4 accurate crosses (19%), 72.3 touches, 36.5 accurate passes (79%), 0.7 key balls and was caught offside 0.2 times per game, while creating three big chances to score over the French top-flight season that resulted in two goals.
This signing too good for us, will never happen
— Edoardo Vergani (@stunna4vergas) August 2, 2020
@ALANMYERSMEDIA Any truth in this? We’ll have 50% of the Lille defence next season and they knew how to keep it solid.
— Carl Taylor (@JackDude2011) August 2, 2020
Looks decent..! Loves a tackle and nice distribution and passing ability..
— Kieran buckley (@Kieranbuckley5) August 2, 2020
Yeah, solid defensively and good going forward, would be a good acquisition if he signs
— Gavin O’Seachnasaigh (@sickleclown) August 2, 2020
Not all Everton fans feel a move for Celik is likely, however, as they question the chances of Director of Football Marcel Brands bringing in two players from Lille following reports of the Blues being keen to sign centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes.
I’m pretty sure that Lille basically did not budge on their stance for pepe’s transfer fee with arsenal so imagine for both him and gabriel it’ll basically be pay what they want or leave https://t.co/CKF211YgVv
— Adam (@elyodx) August 2, 2020
Surely we can’t take two players from them
— TheBlues (@gflan02) August 2, 2020
Reports that Tottenham are also interested in Celik has not gone amiss among the Goodison Park faithful, who feel Spurs could prove to be a prickly thorn in their side after Hojbjerg allegedly expressed his preference as being a move to north London.
Are Spurs tapping Marcel Brands mobile phone? https://t.co/S2F4esdHCU
— Mike Gow 高英智 (@mikeygow) August 2, 2020
He’ll probably snub us a la Hojbjerg and join the fantastical revolution and joyous splendour that is Spurs. They got to a CL Final don’t ya know!#reachedtheirceiling
— Stu Walsh (@stuwalsh1) August 2, 2020
There is not a player on this planet that is “too good” for us Everton have had only one world class manager in the past and that has been the problem. Now we have one of the most elite of managers. However long it takes to build a squad of champions is fine. Even a sudden influx of the best will take time to blend. However, saying anyone is too good for us is nonsense. We have no use for Tranmere fans voicing an opinion on who we should or shouldn’t be buying. Ya don’t hire an eagle and force him to eat with the chickens. Only the best – remember?