‘No space for him in my team’: Manager comments on £34m star linked with Everton

Add as preferred source on Google

A player reportedly sought after by Everton head coach Carlo Ancelotti has slipped to the fringes of the first team at his current club, potentially reviving hopes of a Goodison Park switch.

Hirving Lozano joined Napoli last summer, during the final few months of Ancelotti’s tenure at the Serie A club, joining from PSV for a reported £34million fee (Corriere Dello Sport).

However, things haven’t quite worked out for him under new head coach Gennaro Gattuso.

The Mexico international has barely got a look-in since the turn of the year, and did not even make the bench for Napoli’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Barcelona on Tuesday night.

Tuttomercatoweb has reported that Ancelotti is hoping to convince Everton to bring Lozano to Goodison Park, saving him from his Napoli nightmare in the process.

And judging by Gattuso’s comments on Lozano ahead of the Barca game, the 24-year-old’s style is simply not a match for the current Partenopei side.

“Lozano has to work harder and improve to be ready,” Gattuso is quoted by AS as saying.

“Right now I am looking for different qualities that he doesn’t have so at the moment there I have no space for him in my team.”

TBR View:

Lozano is an incredibly talented player and his arrival at Napoli was met with much fanfare last summer.

However, Gattuso seemingly prefers his wingers to play quick, one or two-touch football in and around the penalty area rather than carry the ball long distances and run at defenders.

For the current Napoli setup, this means the likes of Jose Callejon and Elif Elmas are preferred to Lozano, who is more of an explosive inside-forward.

However, Ancelotti would surely work wonders with Lozano, being the coach who had brought him to Napoli in the first place – and given his impressive stats with PSV, there is a talented player in there just waiting to be unleashed.