EVERTON KEEN ON VERSATILE DEFENDER – REPORT

Merseyside giants Everton are reportedly interested in a summer transfer for Bologna utility player TakehiroTomiyasu. This is according to the report from Italian news outlet Gazzettadello Sport which revealed that the Toffees want to strengthen their defence with the Japanese player.

TakehiroTomiyasuis a utility defender who can play anywhere across the back especially at centre back and right-back. Everton have suffered due to lack of options on the right side of their defence and signing the Japanese defender from Italian Serie A club Bologna will go a long way to solve the right-back issues in the team.

Earlier in the season, the injury to Everton skipper Seamus Coleman meant that the Toffees were not able to field a specialist right-back for some weeks. Toffees boss Carlo Ancelotti had to make use of Nigerian midfielder Alex Iwobi as aright wing back to accommodate thedefensive deficiencies of the Arsenal Academy graduate. Ancelotti has also tried Ben Godfrey on the right side of his defence.

When the summer’s transfer window reopens in the coming weeks, Everton are expected to be actively in the market for a right-sided defender and 22-year-old Tomiyasu could be the man for the job.

Everton are not the only club keen to sign the Bologna utility player. Apart from the Toffees, Italian Serie A giants AC Milan and German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen are also monitoring his situation at Bologna.

Japanese player Tomiyasu has featured 26 times for Bologna in the league this season and his performances have propelled the club to 11th place on the Serie A standings. He has played a total of 58 games for the Italian team since his arrival from Saint-Truiden in Belgium.