With only a month to go until the opening of the January transfer window, those players that are perhaps not playing as much as they’d like, or those which managers are hopeful of offloading under-performing stars, will all be positioning themselves to ensure deals get done early in the new year.
Traditionally the winter window has always appeared to be less busy than its summer counterpart, however, the volume of deals in January seems to have picked up over the past couple of seasons.
The margins between success and failure can be minuscule so a decent mid-season window can end up making all the difference.
One team that will certainly need to work the market to their advantage is Sean Dyche’s Everton.
The Toffees have been hit with a 10-point deduction by the Premier League, plunging them down towards the foot of the table.
Any points that they can pick up over the course of the next couple of months are going to be vital in their attempts to claw themselves away from relegation, regardless of whether an appeal against their punishment for financial irregularities is successful or not.
According to Football Insider, high-flying Aston Villa are prepared to allow their midfielder, Leander Dendoncker, to leave, and Everton are interested.
Given that Dendoncker has only played for 53 minutes of the 2023/24 campaign per WhoScored, he’ll surely jump at the chance of a switch, even if that means going from chasing a Champions League spot to being plunged into a relegation battle.