Everton defender Yerry Mina is set to leave the club this summer.
The Lowdown: Leaky Defence
The Toffees have been very poor defensively this season, with only four teams conceding more than the 66 goals Frank Lampard’s side let in.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher even went as far as to call the Merseyside club’s defence “Championship level” after they lost 5-0 to Spurs.
“Whenever you see teams who are worst in the league away from home, the first thing that comes to mind is they’re weak and soft. That should never be Everton.
“I said that back four is Championship level but for Everton not to be physical, aggressive, making it tough… that’s what Everton have always been even when they’ve not been at the best.”
Alongside conceding a lot of goals they have also been reckless, with the Blues seeing six red cards, the most in the Premier League.
The Latest: Mina up for Sale
According to Italian news outlet TuttoMercatoWeb, Everton have put the 27-year-old up for sale.
The Colombia international has just one year left on the contract he signed when he joined the Liverpool-based club for £27m in 2018.
The Toffees are asking for €15m (£12.8m), but figures at the team accept that they may have to settle for a lower fee.
The Verdict: Toffees won’t Miss Injury-prone Defender
The former Barcelona centre back has actually been one of Everton’s better defenders.
Michael Keane is the only centre back at the club that boast a higher WhoScored league rating, and £18m-rated colossus is top five in his side for clearances and blocks.
The 6 foot 5 centre half is also in the top 10% at his position in Europe’s top five leagues for shots blocked and aerial duels won.
His form earlier on in the season caused former Toffee Michael Ball to call him a “monster” in his column for The Liverpool Echo.
“Yerry Mina is fantastic. When he’s on form, he’s a monster. He just loves football, he’s always smiling, happy. He loves the fight, loves winning headers and love a battle.”
However, the issue around the £120k-per-week ace is not his performances on the pitch, but the fact that he is not on the pitch enough.
The defender has missed 25 games this season due to injury, which has meant that he only made 13 league appearances this season. That is 19 less than Keane.
For the wages he is on, that is not good enough. While his performances at Goodison Park will be missed, they did not happen often enough for Mina’s departure to severely hinder Everton next year.
AND in other news, Everton monitoring “quality” £10.8m-rated dynamo with “huge potential”…