Everton have been linked with an Arsenal defender worth at least £23m - but is he a fit for David Moyes’ system?
While Everton may have finally gotten their summer transfer window going with the addition of some potentially exciting attacking talent such as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish, there is still a fair amount of work to do – especially on their defence.
The club appear to be no closer to signing the right-back they desperately need and they look worryingly thin at centre-back following a hamstring injury which could sideline Jarrad Branthwaite for up to six weeks. David Moyes’ sides seldom want for defensive solidity, but with limited resources available, the Toffees likely need to find some new faces to be as effective at the back as they were after Moyes made his comeback.
A number of names have cropped up on the rumour mill – and among the latest is an intriguing suggestion from Caught Offside that Everton could make a move for Arsenal’s Jakub Kiwior. But would the Poland international be a good fit for Moyes’ methods, and is it actually likely to happen?
Everton have been linked with Jakub Kiwior – but is he a good fit for them?
The 25-year-old Kiwior would likely be a regular starter in most teams and has been linked with many of Europe’s biggest sides, but getting into Arsenal’s back four isn’t straightforward, with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães keeping his gametime to a minimum since he signed from Spezia three years ago.
Kiwior has largely impressed when given his chances, however, demonstrating solid technical quality, crisp passing, solid positioning and the kind of positional versatility that would be beneficial to plenty of team – Everton very much included.
Arsenal, according to Caught Offside’s report, would like to keep Kiwior around as a squad player and are preparing a new contract offer, but the Pole would prefer to leave in order to secure regular first-team football, with Moyes’ side mentioned as being among his suitors.
Whether Kiwior would fit Moyes’ system is rather debatable, however, despite his fundamental qualities as a footballer. Moyes sets his defence up in a manner very different to Mikel Arteta – considerably deeper, with a set-up aimed at forcing opposing attacks to fire in deep crosses and long passes which an imposing central pairing can then deal with.
Kiwior doesn’t naturally fit that mould. A little under six feet tall and relatively slight of build for a Premier League defender, he lost over half of his aerial duels last season and it rather more naturally suited to a defensive system which pushes players up higher and works to keep the ball on the ground.
He’s a fine and accurate passer and his distribution is a strong suit, but he is primarily a short-to-medium range passer and a natural fit for teams that build gradually from the back rather than looking to get the ball downfield at speed on the counter-attack. James Tarkowski and Branthwaite both attempted long passes more than twice as often as Kiwior last season.
They also spent far less time venturing into midfield, which is precisely what Kiwior has been encouraged to do by Arteta. Moyes, by comparison, is likely to want a defender who is more comfortable holding firm to their starting position.
It may be that Kiwior can adapt, but he is not exactly the archetype of the Moyes defender and unless the Scotsman has a significant change of style in mind, then he would seem like a strange signing on paper. But is that a chance that Everton will actually take this summer?
Will Everton really sign Kiwior from Arsenal this summer?
The short answer, based on the information we have, is no – if only because other teams appear to be ahead of Everton in the race.
Caught Offside’s report also mentions Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers as interested parties, but the Polish media suggests that Porto could be a more likely destination. The Portuguese giants have had an initial loan offer worth €7m with a compulsory purchase clause of €20m (a little over £23m in total value) turned down, according to Meczyki, who also reference AC Milan’s continued interest.
Kiwior was left out of the squad for Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United, which hints at negotiations ongoing with a club somewhere – with other rumours not suggesting formal offers from other clubs, it’s likely that it’s Porto who are at the head of the queue right now.
It’s also worth noting that Caught Offside’s claims concerning Kiwior’s future are not corroborated by other outlets, either. Although a number of rumour-sharing websites and aggregators have published the claim, they all appears to source back to Caught Offside. This is a single-sourced story with other journalists who would expect to be closer to the situation are not echoing.
Everton, in short, may not be sincerely interested at all, but if Caught Offside do have their facts straight then Kiwior would make a strange signing anyway – a good player, but not one whose traits and style of play seem to line up neatly with Moyes’ methods. This is, perhaps, a deal that Everton should leave to Porto.
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