Everton news: Ronald Koeman puts Saints’ ace Virgil van Dijk top of his January wish list
Manchester United duo Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay also on Everton manager's transfer radar
RONALD KOEMAN wants up to five new faces in the January window.
Yet the Everton chief admits he will struggle to bring anyone in if they are also targets for Premier League big guns.
A return to Southampton for centre-back Virgil van Dijk, signed by Koeman when he was Saints boss, tops his wish list.
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Manchester United duo Morgan Schneiderlin — also a West Brom target — and Memphis Depay both feature highly.
Charlton’s £10million-rated 19-year-old Ademola Lookman is also on the list, along with 17-year-old striker Alexander Isak from AIK Stockholm.
Central defender is the position Koeman really wants to fill — but with Manchester City and Juventus also chasing Van Dijk, he knows he will be struggling.
The Blues boss said as he prepared for today’s trip to Leicester: “All players have ambition and like to play in the Champions League.
“We need to show Everton is a really interesting project. But if you have competition against those kind of teams it’s always difficult.”
At least Koeman will not have to worry about money, with major investor Farhad Moshiri vowing to do all he can to help bring in new faces.
The Goodison boss reckons he needs them and admits it could be his busiest January window.
He said: “If I compare to Southampton. I like to do more business now in January than we did there.
“It’s all about what we need. We will lose Idrissa Gueye to the African Nations Cup and we have a long-term injury to Yannick Bolasie.
“We have more time now for January than we had in the summer.
“Director of Football Steve Walsh has been here for a few months. We’re better prepared than we were in the summer.”