Theo Walcott could be on his way out of Everton after struggling for consistency in his two years on Merseyside and will need replacing this summer. One player who should be on the Toffees’ radar is Nabil Fekir, as he’s been keen to come to the Premier League in the past and would be an improvement on the 31-year-old.
Walcott played most of his games on the right wing and was tasked with supplementing the attack by being in and around the penalty area. He scored more goals than he set up, but Everton need a creative player too. With Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin having a hand in 36 league goals this season, Everton will benefit from somebody who can make numerous chances for the pair.
Fekir fits the bill perfectly. As per Transfermarkt, the 26-year-old has scored seven goals and made six assists in 22 Liga games for Real Betis this season. As per WhoScored, Fekir created 25 chances, had 73 successful dribbles (66%), whipped in 40 crosses with 30% accuracy and had 73 shots with 34% hitting the target.
Betis paid £17.8m to sign the French international from Olympique Lyonnais last summer, but his current market value has shot up. Transfermarkt rate Fekir at £36m while CIES Football Observatory rate him at €40m-€50m (£35.25m-£44m). As per Transfermarkt, Everton paid £45m for Gylfi Sigurdsson in 2017 and £35.3m for Richarlison in 2018 so they’re not averse to making big-money spends.
Fekir had previously been on the radar of Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool and has had a hand in 115 goals from 193 appearances at Lyon, so he looks the real deal. As per Sky Sports, the wide-man’s disruptive representatives killed a move to Liverpool, but he’s still impressed enough at Betis to warrant interest.