Everton boss Ronald Koeman recently returned to St Mary’s for the first time as the manager of the Toffees, but his afternoon did not quite go as well as he would have wanted; his side were beaten 1-0, thanks to a Charlie Austin goal which came in the first minute of the game.
The Merseyside club now sit seventh in the Premier League table and are nine points behind Arsenal who occupy the final fourth Champions League spot in the standings, at the time of writing.
If Everton are to make up ground on the top four in the second half of the season, for which you can get odds of 33/1 betting online at Betway for a top four finish, Koeman is likely to need one or two recruitments in January in order to strengthen his squad. Here are three players at Manchester United who could be on his shortlist.
Memphis Depay
Dutchman Memphis Depay arrived at Manchester United in the Premier League with a huge reputation when he joined for a reported £25 million from PSV Eindhoven. The forward was regarded as one of the brightest young talents in Europe, making it a huge coup for United when Louis van Gaal won the race to his signature ahead of Liverpool and PSG.
Things have not quite worked for Depay at Old Trafford though, and under current United boss Jose Mourinho, the 22-year-old has been starved of action this season which means he looks set for the exit door in January.
Koeman could tempt Depay into remaining in England and making the short trip across to Merseyside to play for Everton. That may be on a loan move if the transfer fee was out of the club’s range but if they were to get the player until the end of the season, he could turn out to be a great bit of business.
Morgan Schneiderlin
Frenchman Morgan Schneiderlin seems to have fallen out of favour at Old Trafford. The former Southampton midfielder has only featured twice in the Premier League this season, therefore he could be looking for a move elsewhere in January.
Schneiderlin played under Koeman when he was the manager at Southampton. The 27-year-old produced some of his best football for his Dutch manager. Therefore, he may very well see Everton as the perfect move at this stage of his career. That way, he will be able to carry on playing in the Premier League and will be confident that he has a manager who believes in him, something is not the case at the moment at Manchester United.
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney upset every Everton fan around the world in 2004 when at the age of 18 he signed for Manchester United for £25.6 million. At the time that was the highest fee paid for a player under the age 20.
“Wayne Rooney” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by nasmac
Since making the switch to United, Rooney has won the Premier League five times, as well as the Champions League and is now the club’s second highest goalscorer of all-time.
At the age of 31, Rooney is now at the back end of his career. He is no longer a first-team regular for United, which does open speculation about his future. If the United forward does want to be playing every week, he may need to leave in January.
Although Rooney left a bitter taste in many Everton fans’ mouths when he left Goodison Park, all is likely to be forgiven if he chose to return to the Toffees. Koeman would be delighted with the signing and is likely to feel like there is still plenty for Rooney to give in the Premier League.