Ronald Koeman says he cannot wait to get down to business in transfer market with £50m to spend
RONALD KOEMAN has revealed he cannot wait to get down to transfer business this month.
The Everton boss is set to become one of the biggest spenders of the January window.
He has £50million at his disposal and among the top targets are Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk, who was banned from the 3–0 defeat at Koeman’s Everton yesterday.
The Dutch manager signed his countryman from Celtic when he was Saints’ manager.
But he faces stiff competition from, among others, Manchester City.
Manchester United duo Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay and Burnley’s former Old Trafford centre-back Michael Keane are more realistic options.
And Koeman has made it clear he is ready to start writing some big cheques.
He said: “The club knows what we want to change. I am hoping to do some business.”
Enner Valencia, on loan from West Ham, may get a permanent deal after scoring his first goal in almost a year yesterday. But it was prize asset Romelu Lukaku who won the most praise.
The Belgian striker, rated at £80m, equalled the legendary Duncan Ferguson’s 72 goals for the club.
And Koeman stressed: “He has strength, he is that target for us up front.
“I was not happy about the support he has been getting and we talked about it.
“But he got it against Southampton and his second-half performance gave us momentum.”
Leighton Baines, with a penalty, was the other Toffees scorer.