Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas shares his thoughts on the Blues' pursuit of the Arsenal midfielder
Arsenal's Christian Norgaard arrives at Sobha Realty Training Centre on July 20. Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Arsenal's Christian Norgaard arrives at Sobha Realty Training Centre on July 20. Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
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Every now and then a transfer comes out of nowhere and that was the case when news of advanced talks for Christian Norgaard broke as Everton were playing Hamburg.
The case for a defensive midfielder was being made on the pitch at the time as Everton’s fragility in the middle was exposed by a competent Bundesliga side.
That a solution could be close is positive news for David Moyes and should it get over the line for the £7m figure talks have centred on, it would appear to be a shrewd piece of business by the club.
At 32, Norgaard would not fall among the promising, emerging talent Everton have spent recent years striving to acquire in central midfield.
There will no doubt be some disappointment the recruitment team at Finch Farm has not put together an ambitious bid for a raw prospect akin to the deal that brought Amadou Onana to Merseyside in the summer of 2022.
But there are times when investing in potential is a bonus rather than a necessity and this seems like a good example of the pragmatism needed to help Everton kick on from a season that held so much promise but ended in frustration.
Everton do already have a clutch of younger players in the middle of the pitch. It feels as though James Garner has been around a long time but he is still just 24. Summer additions Hayden Hackney and Merlin Rohl are the same age and Tim Iroegbunam and Harrison Armstrong are younger but each now boast significant Premier League experience.
Against that backdrop, and with the loss of Idrissa Gueye, an experienced head could provide a useful dose of calm discipline, as well as a figure those around him can learn from. Norgaard deserved his chance at Arsenal last year and will have picked up a lot from a campaign in which he made 20 appearances for a club that won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final.
Everton’s young central midfield would benefit from some of the wisdom he acquired at the Emirates - and in his 122 Premier League games before that at what was an upwardly mobile Brentford side.
The team would also benefit from his role on the pitch. Where everyone fits within the vision for the squad is unclear - it feels like Moyes can call on a lot of players whose natural fit is as a box-to-box midfielder, including Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, despite his excellent season as an attacking midfielder.
What they lack is a specialist defensive midfielder, someone to add some protection to a team that still struggles to defend in transition, a player to do the dirty work that allows those around him the freedom to push into the final third. The Denmark international should help to provide that anchor and would therefore be a useful addition, particularly in the wake of Idrissa Gueye’s departure - though Gueye, too, was not really a number 6, his strength coming from being able to seek the ball higher up the pitch. While Norgaard would not be a like-for-like replacement for Gueye, another benefit is the greater threat he would pose when he gets into the opposition box, particularly from set pieces, where Moyes would likely be pleased to welcome another six-foot-plus figure in the box.
With Gueye and club captain Seamus Coleman having left this summer, Norgaard would provide a further boost to a team that now requires new leaders to step up, too - he was captain at the GTech Community Stadium for two years before he linked up with Mikel Arteta.
Everton need additions and Norgaard may not represent a long-term solution to the club’s defensive midfield. But if he can steward the emergence of others, add more leadership to the dressing room and bring experience in a position Everton are currently lacking, then it is hard to see a downside to this deal, particularly if the modest fee allows more money to be spent elsewhere, including on that other position of high priority - right back. We have seen similar signings have a profound impact on teams, most notably Granit Xhaka at Sunderland last season. Everton would be delighted if Norgaard made anything like the same impression at Hill Dickinson Stadium.