Assessing the FPL appeal of new Everton signings Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli

Everton’s new manager Frank Lampard was barely through the door at Goodison Park when he began reshaping his squad with the arrivals of Donny van de Beek (£5.7m) and Dele Alli (£6.2m), on loan and permanent deals respectively.

Both players have been marginalised at their clubs in recent times, but with the Toffees languishing just four points above the relegation zone in 16th, Lampard identified the engine room as an immediate area to improve.

Now, with Newcastle United and Leeds United up next for Everton, both of whom rank in the bottom three for goals conceded in 2021/22, we assess van de Beek and Alli’s future appeal – or lack of it – in our Moving Target report.

DONNY VAN DE BEEK

Man Utd signed van de Beek from Ajax for £40m in September 2020, but the Netherlands international has failed to convince either Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or successor Ralf Rangnick, starting only four Premier League games.

However, when he arrived, there was plenty of optimism, which we covered in our Scout Report at the time, linked here.

At Ajax, van de Beek was used as both a central and attacking midfielder, describing himself as a player who “… likes to go into the box – making runs, goals, assists”, whilst in 2021, in an interview with Rio Ferdinand, he gave his opinion on what his best position is:

“I think I can play as a six but, of course, I don’t know what the manager thinks or what he expects from me. I’ve played in this role before with Ajax. Of course, at the end I was playing number 10, but I also played a few games number six. I can play this role. That’s really difficult to say (what my best position is). That depends on how you play as a team. For how we play, I think the best position for me is a number six or eight.”

Now, it’s a big chance for van de Beek, still only 24, to show what he can do for Lampard, and if handed a decent run of starts, he could perhaps return to the form that saw him attract interest from Man Utd and Real Madrid.

VAN DE BEEK’S CAREER STATISTICS – EREDIVISIE/PREMIER LEAGUE

Source: WhoScored

DELE ALLI

The deal to sign Alli is arguably the most intriguing of the January transfer window, given that the 25-year-old was once regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in Europe.

He scored 10 goals in 33 Premier League appearances during his debut campaign at Spurs, before hitting 18 in the 2016/17 season, earning him two PFA Young Player of the Year Awards.

However, having been a regular starter under Mauricio Pochettino, he fell out of favour following Jose Mourinho’s appointment and has since seen his career stagnate.

He actually started the opening six Premier League matches of the current campaign but struggled for game time under Antonio Conte, and as a result, has now made a permanent switch to Goodison Park.

Lampard made the signing of Alli a priority and believes he can rebuild a career that has stalled in recent years, and whilst it’s certainly a bold early move, there could perhaps be potential for him to rediscover his goalscoring touch.

ALLI’S CAREER STATISTICS – PREMIER LEAGUE ONLY

Source: WhoScored

THE PROSPECTS – AND HOW EVERTON COULD LINE-UP

On the face of it, fitting van de Beek and Alli into the same starting XI presents Lampard with a selection conundrum, with both players seemingly at their best in similar roles.

Lampard typically used a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation at Chelsea and Derby County, so there could be potential for van de Beek and Alli to feature alongside a holding midfielder, in a set-up that could look something like this:

Above: a potential Everton XI under Frank Lampard

Van de Beek has operated as one of the holding two in a 4-2-3-1 at Ajax, though it is worth noting that they regularly dominated their opponents, something Everton won’t do, whilst there are also question marks around his ability to remain positionally disciplined.

As a result, the above set-up could leave them too exposed, and they may well end up needing to pair Abdoulaye Doucoure (£5.4m) – once fit – and Allan (£4.3m) together, simply to offer a bit more protection to their backline, which has been shaky all season.

Squad depth is also no bad thing, either, but the expectation is that both van de Beek and Alli will be regular starters. The question is now: is there enough FPL potential to invest early, and capitalise on those appealing next two fixtures?

In short, it perhaps feels a little risky, with so many unknowns attached to both players, plus the new manager, which we discussed in our Frank Lampard Scout Report earlier this week, linked here.

However, there is certainly potential further down the line, given that Everton have three appealing postponed fixtures that still need to be rescheduled – Burnley (a), Leicester City (h) and Newcastle United (h) – increasing the likelihood of getting Double Gameweeks.

For Alli, he could perhaps be used in a similar way to Mason Mount (£7.6m) under Lampard, as he has the ability to carry the ball, get shots off and create in advanced areas, but it remains to be seen whether a change in environment can reignite his career.

Elsewhere, if van de Beek is used in a slightly deeper role, where he would utilise his playmaking skills, it’s hard to see him offering enough goal threat to truly rival others in his price category, like Jarrod Bowen (£6.9m), Conor Gallagher (£6.1m), Bukayo Saka (£6.4m) and Raphinha (£6.6m), even team-mate Demarai Gray (£5.5m). Because of that, it perhaps feels like we’ll need him playing closer to goal if he is to truly become an option for our squads.

There is also Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m) to consider, who has produced 29 Premier League goals and seven assists across his two previous campaigns. The England forward, therefore, probably remains the Toffees’ best attacking asset, especially given the lack of appealing forwards elsewhere, and if we are to double up, we’ll certainly need some appealing Double Gameweeks to be thrown into the mix.