According to Chronicle Live, Everton are eyeing Wylan Cyprien and may have to battle Newcastle United for his signature. The 25-year-old joined OGC Nice from RC Lens in 2016 and has gone on to make 109 appearances in all competitions, scoring 23 goals and making 12 assists.
Cyprien’s future is uncertain at the Allianz Riviera as he’s out of contract in 2021. Chronicle Live say the Frenchman was a target for Aston Villa in January and hasn’t ruled out the prospect of coming to the Premier League, so Nice might be forced to sell this summer, rather than risk losing him for nothing next year.
Nice slapped a £20m asking price on his head back in January while Capology say his wages are around €1.2m-a-year/€23k-per-week (£1.07m-a-year/£20.5k-per-week). He’s more than affordable for Everton, but it remains to be seen if he’s top of their wishlist this summer.
Carlo Ancelotti has Andre Gomes, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Fabian Delph, Morgan Schneiderlin, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Davies at his disposal but is still looking to strengthen the engine room. Everton have been linked with Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn, Sassulo’s Davide Frattesi, Valencia’s Geoffrey Kondogbia, Napoli’s Fabian Ruiz and Feyenoord’s Orkun Kokcu among others.
That’s not to say Cyprien isn’t a good player, however. As per WhoScored, the 25-year-old has scored seven goals and made three assists in 20 Ligue 1 games from midfield. He’s created 37 chances, completed 87.6% of his 1251 passes, won 16 aerial duels (61.5%), had 13 successful dribbles (59%), hit the target from 19 of his 58 shots (32.7%), made 15 clearances, won 32 free-kicks, gave away 13 fouls and averaged a tackle (17) or interception (18) every 34 minutes.
Everton are being linked with a lot of midfielders, so time will tell which player they end up with this summer.