Everton given green light to land “unique” £30m dynamo, he can be their own Robertson – opinion

Everton have been given the green light to sign Manchester City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko during the summer transfer window.

That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, who tweeted: “Manchester City are prepared to let Oleksandr Zinchenko leave as they are targeting Marc Cucurella, with an official bid coming soon – decision was made in May. Zinchenko can be sold and Everton have his name in the list as one of the main targets. Other clubs also keen.”

The Toffees could hold the advantage in this deal as Frank Lampard is likely to play the Ukrainian further forward in a midfield role, with the 44-year-old looking to add a bit more creative input to his stagnating midfield.

Man City value the player at £30m according to 90min.

Everton escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth last season and Lampard will know a slow start in the upcoming campaign won’t be enough to please the Goodison faithful.

He inherited a squad from Rafa Benitez and this is the first full transfer window that he will have to be able to add some quality to his side, and with the imminent signing of James Tarkowski, it looks like an excellent start.

Being linked with the £22.5m-rated Zinchenko shows real ambition from Lampard and he may have to pay over his valuation to secure his services.

Having been dubbed “unique” in the past, his versatility will be a bonus for the manager, and he is similar to Liverpool’s Andy Robertson as per FBref.

Although both play at left-back on a regular basis, their attacking abilities are excellent, with both generating over three shot-creating actions per match (3.61 for Zinchenko and 3.37 for Robertson).

Both players passing was of a high standard last season, with Zincehnko (89.3% completed passes) and Robertson (81%)