Everton reportedly saw their approaches for Napoli duo Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen rejected on transfer deadline day.
According to Italian publication Il Mattino, Everton made an approach to try and secure the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen but were turned down by Napoli late in the January transfer window.
Everton had quite an eventful winter window as they sacked Rafael Benitez, while also seeing one of their key players in Lucas Digne leave the club for rivals Aston Villa. Frank Lampard has been roped in to bring some stability at Goodison Park, while the Toffees also made some decent signings.
The Toffees have signed two full-backs in Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko, while they also completed loan deals for Anwar El Ghazi and Donny van de Beek. In addition, the Merseysiders also brought in Dele Alli from Tottenham on a free transfer on deadline day, although the cost of the deal could potentially rise to £40 million.
However, there could have more incomings at Goodison Park on deadline day if Everton had got their wish. According to the report, the club made late moves to try and sign Koulibaly and Osimhen from Napoli.
Considering that the Everton defence has been largely underperforming this term, it made sense for the club to look for reinforcements to strengthen their backline. Yerry Mina’s questionable fitness record and Mason Holgate’s inconsistencies have meant that Michael Keane has lacked a reliable partner.
Signing someone as experienced and established as Koulibaly would have been a coup for the club. The 30-year-old has more than 300 appearances for the Serie A outfit and has featured more than 50 times for the Senegalese national team. His pedigree and leadership would have elevated the quality of the Everton squad.
As for Osimhen, the Nigerian striker has been in impressive form for the Serie A outfit this term, bagging nine goals and two assists from 16 matches in all competitions. His goalscoring exploits would have made him a great addition to the roster at Everton as they have struggled for goals in the absence of key man Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Salomon Rondon has largely underwhelmed since signing in the summer, leaving Richarlison and Demarai Gray to do the heavy lifting in the final third.
Signing Osimhen and Koulibaly would have given Lampard’s squad a huge boost ahead of the second half of the season. However, Napoli were quick to knock back Everton’s approach for the pair, which is hardly surprising considering they are in the hunt for the Serie A title.
