Everton are poised to forge a summer raid on Hellas Verona for Albania international Marash Kumbulla, according to Corriere dello Sport via Sport Witness.
Kumbulla has frequently been linked with a potential move to Goodison Park since Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as Marco Silva’s successor, with it alleged the Italian is keen to bring the centre-half to Merseyside having failed to seal his signature while in charge of SSC Napoli.
The 20-year-old defender has accumulated 19 appearances for Verona this season across all competitions, in which he has helped Maurizio Setti’s Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi natives keep seven clean sheets.
Ancelotti’s ability to only call on three senior centre-halves in Yerry Mina, Michael Keane and Mason Holgate is expected to see the Blues target further options at the close of the season, and are now moving closer to pursuing Kumbulla.
Toffees staff have frequently scouted the young talent during his appearances this term, leading to the club moving on to the next stage of a pursuit by placing his name on our early summer shortlist.
But Director of Football Marcel Brands would not be alone in courting Kumbulla, as Chelsea have likewise sent scouts to Italy to monitor the one-time international and been as impressed with his performances as we.
Plenty of other potential rival suitors have also been on the cards for Kumbulla’s services this year, with Manchester United, Eintracht Frankfurt, Inter Milan, SS Lazio and Fiorentina previously credited with an interest.
Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund have been mentioned, as well as Napoli too, and any side keen on Kumbulla could face paying upwards of €30million (£24.9m).
Is €30m too much to spend on Kumbulla this summer?
Yes
No
Verona’s asking price is only expected to continue rising the more Kumbulla turns in high-level performances, having made the fifth-most successful tackles (32) of all of Setti’s squad.
The 20-year-old has also registered the second-most interceptions (27), blocked the third-most shots (18), and recorded the fourth-most clearances (53) and aerial duels won (49 of 76), per WhoScored data.
Ancelotti may see a lot more potential in Kumbulla, too, and would certainly seem to be on the lookout for potential centre-backs to sign following links with Manchester United’s Chris Smalling for his efforts on loan in Italy with AS Roma.
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, meanwhile, has a wealth of defensive options at his Champions League side with Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori on hand – plus versatile options like Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and Reece James – so may be less of a threat in any potential Kumbulla hunt.
In other Everton news, the club are continuing to scout one of Carlo Ancelotti’s January transfer targets.