Everton are interested in signing Salernitana forward Boulaye Dia during the summer transfer window and are reportedly ready to make a player-plus-cash offer.
Who is Everton target Boulaye Dia?
The Senegalese attacker moved to Salernitana this time last year, initially arriving on a season-long loan deal, before completing a permanent move from Villarreal in the process once the campaign reached its conclusion.
Dia has made an instant impression at his current club, scoring 16 Serie A goals in just 27 starts in the competition last season, with a further six appearances coming from the substitutes' bench.
At international level, the 26-year-old is also an established player now, scoring six goals in 25 caps to date, and he started four matches for his country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, scoring once in the competition.
Dia has emerged as a potential transfer target for Everton this summer, as the Blues look to rebuild what has been a problematic area of the pitch of late. It looks as though transfer target El Bilal Toure could be on his way to Atalanta instead of Goodison Park, acting as a blow, but it could be that the Salernitana man is viewed as an alternative option.
His current deal doesn't expire until the summer of 2026, but it may be that Everton are able to snap him up before the start of the new Premier League season, following a new update.
Could Everton sign Boulaye Dia?
According to La Citta di Salerno [via Sport Witness], the Blues are pushing to sign Dia this summer, even though Salernitana would "gladly keep" hold of him beyond the current transfer window.
Everton are ready to table a €25m (£21.5m) offer for the Senegal international, and as has been reported separately, the deal could see Neal Maupay head the other way, after a hugely disappointing spell in a Blues shirt. The Frenchman has been a transfer "goal" for the Italian outfit, despite failing to impress on Merseyside, and it is believed that this could help "unlock" a deal for Dia.
Having potentially missed out on Toure, Dia looks like a great option instead, having shone so much for Salernitana in a short space of time, showing that he can excel in one of Europe's top five leagues, with only Napoli's Victor Osimhen and Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez scoring more than him in Serie A last season.
Described as "incredible" by journalist Josh Bunting in the past, the attacker has scored 68 goals in his senior career, not to mention chipping in with 16 assists, and this level of firepower is something that is badly needed at Everton, considering Dwight McNeil topped the Blues' Premier League scoring charts in 2022/23 with only seven strikes.
At 26, Dia already has a healthy amount of experience under his belt, and hasn't looked remotely daunted in a tough league, so there is no reason why he couldn't come straight in as the man to lead the line at Goodison Park, although his ability to play out wide and in attacking midfield is another added bonus.