Wolverhampton Wanderers have confirmed the signing of Nelson Semedo on a three-year deal from Barcelona, but TEAMtalk say Everton tried to lure the 26-year-old to Goodison Park at the last minute. Our pursuit for Semedo obviously failed, but Seamus Coleman and Jonjoe Kenny may now be fearful of their place if Everton are still on the hunt for a right-back.
Is Ancelotti not convinced by Coleman and Kenny?
We’ve been linked with Santiago Arias, Colin Dagba, Matty Cash, Alessandro Florenzi, Emerson, Jesus Corona, Ola Aina, Bouna Sarr and Diogo Dalot this summer but no deal materalised for any of them. It looked like Carlo Ancelotti was happy to stick with Coleman and Kenny for the 2020/21 campaign, but our failed approach for Semedo says otherwise.
We’re already three games into the new season and may be replacing a regular in the starting lineup, so confidence could be knocked. Coleman turns 32 in October while Kenny has made only one appearance for us since 2018/19, so Ancelotti can perhaps be forgiven for his lack of faith.
That’s not to say Semedo wouldn’t improve our squad either. The Portuguese international made 124 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona, scoring two goals with 11 assists, so he’s no slouch of a defender.
Where do we go from here?
Cash has joined Aston Villa, Semedo has joined Wolves and Arias could be on his way to Bayer Leverkusen, so the list of potential transfer targets is getting smaller. The summer transfer window closes in 11 days too, so time is running out for us to strengthen at right-back.
Vital Everton floated the idea of signing Nathaniel Clyne as he’s a free agent following his release from Liverpool and has a vast wealth of Premier League experience, but he probably wouldn’t be an improvement on what we already have. Injuries have limited his playing time in recent years too, so he wouldn’t be the same player Liverpool signed back in 2015.
Summary
I think the majority of fans were happy going into the season with Coleman and Kenny battling for a starting place at right-back. Yes, we could improve in that area, but the pair are good enough for this level.
In other news, were Everton right to hand Joao Virginia a contract extension?