Bargain: Everton 'concretely interested' in 'superb' £8.6m gem who notched 12 assists last year

Everton are in the running to sign Owen Wijndal from AZ Alkmaar, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf (via Sport Witness).

Wijndal, 22, came through the youth ranks at AZ, who finished fifth in last season’s Eredivisie and reached the Europa Conference League Round of 16.

The left-back has made 143 appearances for the senior side in total and now wears their captain’s armband.

With two years left on his contract, he’s valued at £10.8million by Transfermarkt, but De Telegraaf claim he’s available for as little as £8.6million.

Eredivisie champions Ajax are keen on Wijndal but he wasn’t satisfied with their first contract offer.

It would seem that he’s open to moving to the Johan Cruyff ArenA, but he’s reluctant to keep his other suitors waiting ‘much longer’.

Indeed, the likes of Everton, Napoli and Sevilla are ‘concretely interested’ in signing him.

Wijndaal is an impressive young player.

He managed to record 12 assists from his left-back berth in 43 games last term, an excellent return. Indeed, no defender in the Dutch top-flight could better that tally.

And he’s also earned 11 caps for the Netherlands, a top-10 ranked international side.

Talent scout Jacek Kulig has called him a ‘superb‘ player, but the key consideration here is whether Everton really need him.

The Blues paid up to £17million to sign Vitalii Mykolenko from Dynamo Kyiv in January, and though the two players could theoretically compete for the role, it perhaps wouldn’t be the best allocation of resources, even if he looks like a bargain.

In other news, Paul Brown says Everton could land this Brazilian…

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