Carlo Ancelotti witnessed ‘beautiful’ moment from reported Everton target Merih Demiral last season

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Buried early in the print of The Telegraph’s scathing assessment of Everton’s finances is a link to one of Serie A’s top young defenders. Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly a big fan of Juventus centre-back Merih Demiral. 

When looking into a potential reason, it is clear to see why. 

Firstly, Everton are still vulnerable at centre-back. Despite Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate’s recent form, Michael Keane is still earning back trust from the Goodison Park faithful. 

The new Everton boss will also have a full understanding of just what Demiral is capable of. Ancelotti spent the past 18 months back in his native Italy managing Napoli. During that time, Demiral arrived at Sassuolo with a bang, earning a reported (Calciomercato) €18 million move to Juventus in the summer. The Old Lady now want €40 million (£34m) to part with his services, according to the same source.

Ancelotti would have seen first-hand just what Demiral is capable of after a stunning performance against his Napoli side in March. Sassuolo earned a 1-1 draw that day, but Demiral was a key reason for the shared spoils. 

Early into the clash, Napoli’s deadly forward Dries Mertens was through on goal. 

Despite being the other side of 30, the Belgian is still fleet-footed and had a massive head-start on the Turkish international. 

But Demiral bounded down on the attacker like a lion and swooped in to make a goal-saving challenge. 

It went viral on Twitter. Football Italia called it ‘perfectly-timed’, Siren Song dubbed it ‘goal saving’, Calciomercato ‘fantastic’. Users on Reddit labelled it a ‘beautiful’ tackle. 

It was reminiscent of an Ancelotti favourite from his Milan glory days, Italian legend Alessandro Nesta. Pure defending. Exactly what Everton need.