Everton must join Leeds in transfer hunt for £42m former Premier League midfielder as loan claim made

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David Moyes is seeking to build on the brilliant work he did at Everton in the second half of last season – and there’s one midfielder who ought to be on his radar.

David Moyes did a sensational job for the Toffees after coming in and replacing Sean Dyche in January.

In the end, Everton finished on 48 points in the Premier League and sealed a 13th-placed finish.

Now, it’s all about building on that – and The Friedkin Group have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks in their first major transfer window.

Everton are prioritising four positions at the moment – and it’s thought one of those is a new central midfielder.

Orel Mangala has returned to Lyon following his loan spell and won’t be signed permanently after he sustained a serious knee injury.

And Abdoulaye Doucoure has also left Everton at the end of his contract.

So Moyes needs a new midfield enforcer – and Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz might just be someone worth considering.

Juventus likely to offload Douglas Luiz as Leeds United eye transfer

Douglas Luiz joined Juventus in a £42 million deal last summer from Aston Villa.

Unfortunately for the Brazilian, it has not been the spell he was hoping for.

He made just 26 appearances in total, with a couple of injuries limiting his game time.

As a result of his struggles, Juve are now seeking to offload him, and Tuttosport have reported that Leeds United want to sign him to bolster their squad ahead of their first season back in the Premier League.

That’s a good show of ambition from Leeds, with Luiz having obviously spent a number of years in the English top-flight before with Villa. He’s made 175 appearances in the competition to date.

Everton could do worse than to get involved.

Because Juve would apparently be open to loaning Luiz out first, and with a club then paying for him next summer via an obligation clause.

That suggestion is that obligation could be around £26 million.

Douglas Luiz would shake up Everton’s midfield

It is probably easy for people to look at Luiz’s spell at Juventus and say ‘avoid’.

But the reality is that he just hasn’t settled there, which does not make him a bad player.

We all know that Luiz has a large amount of experience in the Premier League, and his final season at Villa he was a revelation, scoring 10 goals and making 10 assists playing as a box-to-box midfielder.

He was energetic, tenacious and creative and, in a verdict from Unai Emery that Moyes will appreciate, ‘he is a leader on the pitch’.

Everton have lost a midfielder who plays with freedom in Doucoure, and Luiz feels like a good option to replace the Mali international – especially if there’s a chance he could be signed on loan.

What’s more, Luiz is a left-footed player. Currently, Moyes has no left-footed central midfield options. So in the interest of balance, that’s another positive.

Then there is the notion that Luiz – who was branded ‘unbelievable by Dean Smith as far back as 2020 (via Birmingham Mail) – will want to respond after the season he’s just had. And he may see Everton as an exciting challenge and a good place to get back on track.

We’ve seen Moyes put an arm around the shoulder of players who are not performing – with Beto perhaps the best example – and it’s not out of the question he could really get Luiz back on track.