Leicester City are planning to return to the Sky Bet Championship after losing their Premier League status in 2022/23.
Enzo Maresca has been named the club’s new manager, and the club’s whole attention is on rebuilding a squad that has already lost Youri Tielemans on a free transfer to Aston Villa and James Maddison to Tottenham in a multi-million pound deal.
Others are anticipated to follow before the transfer market closes in early September, with Jonny Evans perhaps among them.
What is the current status of Jonny Evans’ contract with Leicester?
Leicester’s retained list announced at the beginning of June that the club was “in discussions with captain Jonny Evans regarding his future beyond the expiration of his current deal,” which was set to expire at the end of June.
At the beginning of July, Maresca was pressed about Evans’ condition, revealing that conversations were still ongoing.
“We have been in contact with him,” he said, according to the Leicester Mercury. We’ll see in a few weeks.”
Is Jonny Evans about to join Everton?
Evans appears to be on his way back to the Premier League, with footage from Finch Farm appearing on Everton’s Facebook page, with a member of Sean Dyche’s staff saying: “We’ve got Jonny Evans coming in.”
That tape has been cut and shared on Twitter, with @ITalkEverton shortening the video so you can hear exactly when Evans is mentioned.
Evans, 35, would be another experienced addition to Dyche’s squad, following the signing of Ashley Young from Aston Villa earlier this week.
Everton have three solid center-backs in James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, and Ben Godfrey. However, Yerry Mina’s departure and the failure to renew Conor Coady’s loan means Dyche’s team requires another body.
Evans has made over 350 Premier League games for Manchester United, Leicester City, and West Brom, as well as representing Northern Ireland on a regular basis.
Young, at 35, is more of a short-term fix for Everton than a long-term solution for Dyche, but his presence indicates that he is more than willing to bring in those older players to provide some stability at Goodison Park.
Evans’ recent injury troubles will be another source of concern. He appeared 18 matches for Leicester in 2021/22, but only 13 times last season. Everton will bet on the centre-back putting his problems behind him in 2023/24.
On the other hand, one could argue that if Evans had been fit enough to play 25+ games for Leicester last season, they would not be in the situation they are now in as they prepare for the Championship.
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