Having appointed Dutchman Ronald Koeman as their new manager, Everton are now eyeing up their summer transfer targets, with Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman at the top of the Toffees’ summer wish-list.

Strootman – formerly a target of Manchester United – is expected to cost the Merseyside club somewhere in the region of £30m, as the Dutch international still as two years remaining on his contract at the Serie A giants.

Everton and Koeman have identified midfield as a key area where the club need to strengthen after what was a poor season, and the new boss has been given an alleged £100m transfer kitty to help improve on last campaign’s poor effort.

The Toffees recently let go of veteran Leon Osman, and have struggled for options in the middle of the park over the past year, with Ross Barkley being the only top class central midfielder they have at their disposal.

Although Gareth Barry, Tom Cleverly and James McCarthy on their books, re-enforcements are certainly needed to help strengthen a generally weak midfield outlet.

Despite being injured for a vast majority of his Roma career, Strootman still has plenty to offer, and here are FIVE reasons why the Dutchman may be the perfect signing for Koeman and the Merseyside club…

Familiarity

New boss Koeman has some level of familiarity with Strootman having had him play against his old Feyenoord side whilst the midfielder was at PSV Eindhoven between 2011/13.

The former Feyenoord manager will know his quality and know his strengths and weaknesses, and hence how best to utilise the midfielder.

Playmaker

While the Toffees possess Ross Barkley as their main midfield playmaker, Everton struggle for creativity in the middle of the park from other sources.

Gareth Barry and James McCarthy are better known for their defensive abilities, while Strootman can play box-to-box, offering both defensive cover and attacking prowess.

Out of Sorts

Strootman tore is anterior cruciate ligament during his first season with Roma and needed three operations, which restricted him to making only 25 appearances in the 14/15 season and only a mere 13 the next.

His lack of game time has seen the Dutchman fall down the pecking order at La Maggica and could find himself surplus to requirements next season, despite Miralem Pjanic leaving for rivals Juventus.

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Physicality

Injuries aside, the Roma man has both the ability, but perhaps more importantly the physicality to cope with the toughness of the Premier League.

A number of European midfielders who make the switch to England struggle to cope with the high pace and tough tackling, but Strootman is not one to shy away from hard work and covers plenty of ground as it is.

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Attracting Others

Strootman is well known across Europe, especially following his impressive first season at Roma which saw him heavily linked with a move to Manchester United.

Signing a player of his calibre would be a signal of intent for Everton that they mean business next campaign, and could see others follow in his footsteps to join the highly rated Koeman at Goodison Park.

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