Everton are reportedly leading the chase to sign St.Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi this summer according to reports in the French media.
The player has been a long-term transfer target of both Arsenal and Tottenham but the Toffees are thought to now be in pole position for his services.
The 22-year-old had openly spoken about moving to the Emirates although Spain is also an option. He told skysports.com, “I am interested in playing abroad. I would like to test myself in one of the two best leagues in the world.”
“However, my club would have to be fine with everything. I owe them a lot.
“Playing for Arsenal would be fantastic but I can’t say anything about that yet. Everyone knows their wonderful style of football.”
The Toulouse born star is one of the top-rated midfielders in France and can play in a defensive midfield position, which is an area both Arsenal and Everton definitely need to reinforce. Matuidi is renowned as deep lying midfield playmaker but is also combative which would suit Arsene Wenger and David Moyes. He has also over 120 League appearances to his name in France.
Arsenal’s interest last summer was confirmed by St Etienne’s chairman Roland Romeyer who claimed, “Wenger called me at the end of August to ask if Blaise was for sale. He didn’t make an offer as Blaise was not for sale.”
Everton’s interest has come as a surprise with North London seemingly the midfielder’s likely next destination but French radio station RMC has named the Merseysiders as the first club to make a bid. Tottenham look set to offload a number of midfield players with Jamie O’Hara, Tom Huddlestone, Didier Zokora and Jermaine Jenas all linked with moves away so they may well re-enter the chase for Matuidi as Harry Redknapp restructures his Spurs squad.
St. Etienne struggled last season finishing in 17th position in the 20-team League, three points above the drop zone. However, they finished in a creditable 5th position in 2007/08 leading to Uefa Cup qualification. Matuidi was an unequivocal success as he made 35 League appearances in his debut season (32 starts) following a move from his first club Troyes. However, last season the young midfielder only played in 27 of the club’s 38 League games (all starts) after a run of injuries.
The youngster broke into the Troyes first team in the 2004/05 season making 2 League appearances as a 17-year-old but it was the following season he established himself at senior club level. Matuidi illustrated his combative nature in the 2005/06 season as he made 31 League appearances and was booked 11 times. Troyes finished 1 place above relegation but the following campaign saw them drop from the top division in 18th place despite the best efforts of Matuidi who made 34 League appearances and scored 3 goals.
The 5 ft 9 midfielder has been a reported Gunners and Spurs target for a while now although now it would seem the North Londoners have genuine competition for the uncapped star.
