Why Yerry Mina should step up at Everton this season?

Everton chased Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma the whole summer but failed to sign him in the end.

Zouma, 24, enjoyed a solid season-long loan spell at Goodison Park last campaign. The Frenchman resurrected his career under Marco Silva and wanted to join the Toffees on a permanent basis this summer.

However, new Chelsea boss Frank Lampard poured cold water on the potential move as the Blues are currently under a transfer ban and would not be able to sign a replacement. And Everton’s hopes of signing Zouma dimmed further when David Luiz made the shock deadline day switch to Arsenal.

The Toffees made big headlines this summer by signing the likes of Andre Gomes, Fabian Delph, Moise Kean, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Djibril Sidibe, Jonas Lossl and Alex Iwobi.

Bringing back Zouma was a priority for Silva but now that the Frenchman has stayed put at Chelsea, the Portuguese tactician will expect Yerry Mina to step up this season.

Yerry Mina, 24, joined Everton from Barcelona in what appeared to be a massive coup for the Premier League side. The giant centre-back had just played a starring role in Colombia’s impressive 2018 World Cup campaign, scoring three times including a last-minute header to take the round-of-16 meeting with England into extra-time.

However, he has been something of an enigma, 12 months on and the Goodison Park faithful are yet to see him put a run together in the team.

Following a promising start to life with Everton – a Man of the Match performance in the 0-0 draw away at Chelsea in November the highlight, Mina was sidelined through injury for a lengthy spell, while Michael Keane and Kurt Zouma struck up a strong partnership for Silva’s side.

The Colombian endured a tough time with injuries, amassing only 13 appearances on his debut Premier League season.

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For a player who on paper looks absolutely tailor-made for the Premier League, the 24-year-old struggled massively to cope with the physical demands of English football. Nevertheless, Mina needs to leave his first season at Everton behind him and aim to solve Silva’s defensive problems.

Verdict

The Colombian has a really high potential that made Everton pay a good amount of money to sign him from Barcelona a year ago and it’s time for him to step up. If he can keep his fitness intact and trust his abilities, there is every reason for the Everton fans to expect a big season from Mina.