HIGHLIGHTS
- Everton is interested in signing Napoli winger Hirving Lozano, as they look to strengthen their forward line this summer. Leeds United and Stoke City are also reportedly interested in the player.
- Lozano has been compared to Lionel Messi by Everton’s former director of football, highlighting his low center of gravity, quick ball control, explosiveness, and agility. He had a successful spell at PSV, scoring 21 goals and providing 12 assists in his final season.
- If signed by Everton, Lozano would have the chance to play a starring role at a proud club aiming for a resurgence. He could potentially replicate his prolific form and help improve Everton’s scoring record, which was one of the lowest in the Premier League last season.
Everton is reportedly interested in signing Serie A-winning Napoli winger Hirving Lozano this summer, though will face competition from a host of other outfits.
Sean Dyche’s side has churned into action after a slow start to the transfer window and has now completed deals for Ashley Young and Arnaut Danjuma while agreeing to a £13m deal to sign 19-year-old Sporting Lisbon striker Youssef Chermiti.
Who is Everton going to sign this summer?
According to Mexican publication W Deportes, Everton is pursuing a move for Lozano – with English outfits Leeds United and Stoke City also interested – following the breakdown of the 28-year-old’s transfer to MLS outfit LAFC.
A previous report illustrates the tenuous relationship between the player and the Napoli board, also revealing that a sale might be permitted if the €30m (£26m) valuation is met.
How good is Hirving Lozano?
Everton would undoubtedly open up a whole new dimension to their forward drive by completing a deal for Lozano, with the Toffees’ former director of football Marcel Brands even drawing comparisons between the former PSV star and Lionel Messi, who’s made quite the career for himself.
“When you look at his playing style, without wanting to compare, you know, Lozano has what Messi also has – a center of gravity low to the ground, the ball is usually quickly under control, very explosive and agile. Then your opponents automatically force mistakes.”
Scoring 21 goals and supplying 12 assists across all competitions in his final season for PSV, Lozano sealed a £36m transfer to Napoli in 2019, and while he remains a useful asset for his side, he only clinched four goals and assists apiece for the Italian side as they secured the Scudetto.
But on Merseyside, in Everton blue, the £122k-per-week gem would find himself presented with a starring role at a proud club targetting an emphatic resurgence, perhaps consequently unearthing a similar vein of prolific form that he boasted in the Netherlands.
With the news of Demarai Gray’s possible departure from Goodison Park this summer, Dyche might be inclined to throw the kitchen sink at a deal for Lozano, who would undoubtedly be an upgrade on the mercurial Jamaica international.
Gray has found himself at the center of transfer attention from both the Premier League and abroad this summer, with the winger tempted by a move away and entering the final year of his contract.
Lozano, who has been described as a “beast” by Pachuca sporting director Marco Garces, would be the perfect replacement and must be earmarked as the optimum target if Gray does depart this month.
The Toffees were the second-lowest scorers in the Premier League last season, and it is hardly surprising that Dyche is looking to reform the frontline, and while Gray scored four times, Everton will be searching for an upturn in productivity in front of goal.
Lozano did only match Gray’s goal return but did so second fiddle to his positional peers, only starting 20 league matches, but provided a prominent role at Everton, he could certainly rekindle his prolific edge and spearhead the charge up the Premier League table.
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