Everton have reportedly made a formal offer for Lazio attacker Joaquin Correa, with the Argentine seemingly set to leave his Italian club during this summer's transfer window.
The 26-year-old, who has also been linked with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, was in action for his country at this summer's Copa America, making three appearances for the tournament winners.
Correa enjoyed an impressive 2020-21 campaign for Lazio, meanwhile, scoring 11 times and registering six assists in 38 appearances, including eight goals in 28 Serie A outings.
According to Italian outfit Il Messaggero, an offer in the region of £17m has been submitted, as Rafael Benitez looks to boost his squad with the arrival of the talented South American.
Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend have already arrived to bolstered Everton's options in the final third, but it appears that the Toffees are far from finished when it comes to incomings.
Here, Sports Mole looks at how the Merseyside giants could line up during the 2021-22 campaign if Correa were to make the move to the Premier League club.
At the time of writing, Everton have made three signings this summer, bringing in Gray, Townsend and Asmir Begovic, while Moise Kean, Cenk Tosun and Jonjoe Kenny have returned from loan spells.
The Toffees will make more signings before the transfer window closes, but it remains to be seen whether Benitez is able to get his first-choice targets through the door.
PSV Eindhoven's Denzel Dumfries has been linked with a switch to Goodison Park, but it seems that Inter Milan are at the head of the queue for the Netherlands international.
At the moment, it appears that a back four of Ben Godfrey, Yerry Mina, Michael Keane and Lucas Digne could start the season, with Jordan Pickford, who impressed for England at Euro 2020, the undisputed number one goalkeeper.
In midfield, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure could be joined by James Rodriguez, with the Colombia international looking likely to remain at the club despite the speculation surrounding his future towards the end of last season; a free role could be on the agenda for Rodriguez, who scored six times and provided nine assists in 26 appearances for the Toffees during the 2020-21 campaign.
Further forward, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are set to be key players under Benitez; the pair scored 34 goals between them last season, and the new head coach will want to ensure that he gets the best out of his two most dangerous players in the final third of the field.
There would then naturally be a spot open on the right for Correa, who is capable of operating in that area of the field despite largely playing as a second striker for Lazio last term. Featuring as a narrow attacker, the South American would be given licence to move inside and could cause all sorts of problems to opposition defences due to his pace, movement and trickery in tight spaces.
Correa's presence would also take some of the attention away from Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin, which could make Everton a very tricky proposition in the Premier League next season. body check tags ::
