Report: Everton and Leicester battling for Atalanta star Ruslan Malinovskyi

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Everton are reportedly interested in signing Ruslan Malinovskyi from Atalanta.

That’s the claim made by Calciomercato, who state Leicester City and Inter Milan are also in the mix.

Malinovskyi has been with the Bergamo-based side since the summer of 2019, joining from Genk for around £12 million (Football Italia).

The 27-year-old Ukraine international came through the youth ranks at Shakhtar Donetsk, whom he never actually represented the first-team.

He had loan spells with Sevastopol, Zorya Luhansk and Genk before joining the Belgian outfit permanently in 2015.

Malinovskyi is an attacking midfielder player who is well known in Italy for his set-piece ability and powerful shooting from distance.

So far in 2020/21 for Atalanta, he’s provided a couple of assists but is yet to score having not been a regular starter for the Serie A side.

The Toffees have been tipped by some to move for an attacking midfielder in January, with James Rodriguez largely taking up a right wing position since his move from Real Madrid.

TBR’s View – Set-piece specialist would be nice for Everton

It remains to be seen if Everton will indeed make a move for Malinovskyi, who is still a relatively little known entity, but the idea of signing a set-piece specialist may appeal.

Everton lost Leighton Baines to retirement and may seen value in signing someone who can produce quality from dead-ball scenarios like Malinovskyi, who like Baines, is also left-footed.

But it’s not just that, Everton arguably could probably do with another attacking midfielder, with Gylfi Sigurdsson struggling to show consistency, and Malinovskyi is also a pretty good playmaker with a solid range.