Super sub Simms
For several transfer windows in recent years, Everton were linked with what would have been a record-breaking transfer for the then Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly. But with the Serie A club’s outspoken Aurelio De Laurentiis at one point slapping a €100m price tag on Koulibaly's head, it always seemed like Fantasy Football.
While such a move for the Senegalese international might have seemed ambitious – like bringing in his former coach Carlo Ancelotti to Goodison Park when his time at the same club was up – in reality it would have smacked of the wild profligacy that has dogged Farhad Moshiri’s ownership. Now in his 32nd year, Koulibaly finally made it to the Premier League last summer, joining Chelsea for the rather more knockdown price of £33m – still a figure greater than Everton have ever spent on a defender – but the hulking figure who for several seasons has been considered as being one of the strongest players in the game found himself brushed off with ease by Blues rookie Ellis Simms for what was his first goal in English top-flight football.
