£12m Premier League ace open to joining Everton

Everton decided to part ways with Sean Dyche earlier this month and then opted to swoop to bring in David Moyes for a second spell at Goodison Park.

The Scottish manager has returned for another ride in the dugout on Merseyside, having been out of work since his exit from West Ham United last summer.

It has been an almost-perfect start to life back at the club for the ex-Manchester United head coach, who has secured wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion in his first three Premier League matches.

The Toffees head coach has, however, had to deal with adversity already as he had lost some key players to frustrating injuries in the last week or so.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin suffered a hamstring injury in the win over Brighton last time out and is set for weeks on the sidelines, and Orel Mangala is due to miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury.

These big injury blows have directed where Everton need to be looking to strengthen the squad before the January transfer window slams shut on Monday night.

Everton keen on Premier League midfielder

According to journalist Graeme Bailey, telling Everton News, Newcastle United central midfielder Sean Longstaff is open to a move to Goodison Park ahead of the second half of the season.

The report, via Bailey, reveals that the Toffees are interested in a deal to bring the English midfield ace to the club before the deadline, as they look to bolster their squad.

That is backed up by the Daily Mail, who reports that Everton are eyeing up a potential swoop to sign the Magpies academy graduate in the coming days, with this latest report revealing that the player would be keen to make the move happen.

It was recently reported by TEAMtalk journalist Harry Watkinson that the Toffees have a long-standing interest in the experienced midfielder, which means that they have been tracking his performances for a number of years, rather than it being a panic move at the end of the window.

Watkinson added that it could take a fee in the region of £12m to convince Newcastle to part ways with the 27-year-old midfielder before the deadline on Monday.

However, it remains to be seen whether or not Everton are willing to offer as much as £12m to bring him over to Goodison Park to bolster their squad ahead of the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Toffees should push to get this one over the line, particularly given Longstaff’s willingness to join the club, because he could come in as a dream replacement for Mangala.

Orel Mangala’s form for Everton this season

The Belgium international, who previously played in England with Nottingham Forest, made the move to Everton on a season-long loan from Ligue 1 side Lyon last summer.

It now seems unlikely that the Goodison faithful will ever see him in a Blues jersey again, though, as he has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign with an ACL injury and is due to return to France to complete his recovery with his parent club.

Losing the 26-year-old star has come as a blow to the Toffees as he had been a regular starter under Dyche, with 11 starts in 16 appearances, and started all three of Moyes’ first three matches in charge.

As you can see in the table above, Mangala provided an incredibly reliable presence in possession with his ability to find teammates with his passes at an impressive rate, particularly in his own half.

He also made 1.9 tackles and interceptions per game to break up opposition attacks but was inconsistent in his ability to win duels against opposing players, which was an area for improvement for the midfield whiz.

Mangala was a metronomic midfielder who could keep attacks ticking with his use of the ball in possession and that is why Longstaff could be a dream replacement for him, as he offers similar qualities.

Why Longstaff would be a dream replacement for Mangala

The English midfield maestro has struggled to find regular game time with the Magpies this season, as he has only started eight of his 18 appearances in the Premier League, with the likes of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, and Joelinton ahead of him.

Longstaff has not registered a goal or an assist in those 18 matches but has completed 86% of his attempted passes and 92% of his attempted passes in his own half, which speaks to his reliability on the ball.

He has shown some goalscoring potential, as shown in the highlights above, but he has only scored 16 goals in 205 appearances for the Magpies in all competitions to date.

Longstaff, therefore, is not a midfielder who is likely to come in and provide goals and assists on a consistent basis, which is also not what Mangala offered Dyche or Moyes.

The Belgian ace was a reliable passer who also contributed defensively and that is exactly the kind of presence that the Newcastle ace could offer Moyes in the second half of this season.

As you can see in the table above, Longstaff was a regular starter for the Magpies in the 2023/24 campaign and did offer a threat at the top end of the pitch, but it is not something he has carried over into the current season.

His defensive statistics were also incredibly similar to what Mangala produced for Everton this term before his ACL injury, which suggests that the Newcastle man could be similar to him in terms of his output off the ball.

Overall, Longstaff appears to be a dream replacement for the Belgian ace because he is a Premier League experienced player who could hit the ground running, with the technical and defensive attributes required to fulfill a similar role in the team.