A day after Everton confirmed the signing of 19-year-old Ademola Lookman for £7.5 million, Ronald Koeman is looking to further strengthen his side in the January transfer window. Winger Memphis Depay and midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin have suffered difficult spells at Old Trafford and manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that the pair are allowed to leave the club, for the right price. Koeman is looking to reunite with Schneiderlin following their time together at Southampton and to add fellow countryman Depay to his Everton ranks. But perhaps the most ambitious of all the moves is their enquiry of Roma centre-back Kostas Manolas.
The defender was subject of intense interest from Chelsea over the summer but a move never materialised with Conte deciding to bring David Luiz back to Stamford Bridge; but Manolas might finally be moving to the Premier League after all.
Manchester United Outcasts
Memphis Depay was expected to light up the Premier League, following his £31 million move to Old Trafford in the summer of 2015. But has since failed to impress, failing to gain regular first team Football under Van Gaal and has seemed to have slipped further down the pecking order under Mourinho. With the Portuguese preferring summer signing Mkhitaryan. A life-line could be exactly what the Dutchman needs as he is still yet to prove that he has what it takes to become a success in England.
Koeman could be just the man to revitalise the winger and could arrive on Merseyside, one-and-a-half years after rejecting rivals Liverpool to sign for Manchester United. However a move seems more likely to take Depay out of the Premier League and abroad with French side Nice registering interest, a move abroad seems more realistic for Depay.
Then there is Morgan Schneiderlin, who worked under Koeman at Southampton before moving to Manchester, a month after Depay arrived. West Brom recently had a £18 million bid rejected for the Frenchman, offering an indicator to how much Everton will have to spend to bring him to the blue half of Merseyside. This seems the more realistic of the two potential transfers with the chance to excel once again under his old boss perhaps too good of an opportunity to pass up for Schneiderlin, having failed to live up to potential at Old Trafford.
Roma Raid
Kostas Manolas seemed close to joining Chelsea towards the end of the summer transfer window, however the defender opted to stay in Italy, with Roma having already let star man Miralem Pjanic move to Serie A rivals Juventus. However, Sky in Italy understand that Everton have made an initial approach to Roma regarding the centre-back and hope to conclude a deal before the end of the month. It is too early in negotiations to determine whether or not we will be seeing Manolas in the Premier League any time soon but it certainly highlights Everton's ambition. Sitting in 7th place and 12 points away from the top 4, it has not been the most productive of seasons for the club but an acquisition like Manolas would add much needed steel to their backline and would send shock waves through the league.
It is difficult to see why a player getting regular first team football for a Champions League club would move midway through the season, but if football has taught us anything recently it is that money talks. Everton are finally looking like they are going to spend Moshiri's cash as they look to turn around what has so far been a disappointing season.
