Should Everton target the midfield Dynamo likened to a Bayern legend?

“Xherdan Shaqiri is the best talent in Switzerland…after Granit Xhaka,” Thorsten Fink, Xhaka’s former manager at FC Basel, said last year. His current national team manager Ottmar Hitzfeld has compared him to Bayern Munich and Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger. With such high praise heaped upon him, it’s unsurprising that the 21-year-old Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder has been linked with a possible move to Everton, according to the Daily Express. But should the Toffees go in for him in January?

Martinez added Gareth Barry and James McCarthy to his midfield ranks this summer. In the Spaniard’s fluid 4-2-3-1 setup, both have played in the ‘two’ and have done well in helping the team regain, retain, and distribute possession. Barry has attempted 20 tackles, winning 14 of them. While McCarthy has won 85% of his tackles this term.

Xhaka, on the other hand, is a dynamic player capable of not only helping to regain, retain, and distribute the ball, but he can break forward from deep positions as well to provide support for the likes of Ross Barkley through the middle as well as the wide players, including the full-back’s when they bomb forward. That said, he would make a good foil for Barry and could play in a ‘double pivot’ with McCarthy, who is slightly dynamic as well. The Swiss international has won 79% of his tackles this term.

Granit Xhaka Duels Won

So far this season, featuring largely in central midfield, Xhaka has completed 88% of his passes, which includes 41 long balls, setting up eight chances in his eleven appearances. He also completed 71% of the 17 attempted take-ons he makes per game. These are impressive numbers, numbers that show just how hard working he is off the ball and efficient when on it.

An area of his game that needs attention is his shooting, however. His poor shooting explains why he only netted two league goals during his time at FC Basel and just the one so far at Monchengladbach.  In fact, this term has a shot accuracy of just 13%, with only one of his total of seven strikes hitting the target. Once his shooting improves, then he would be a complete midfielder, much like Schweinsteiger.

He is a decent player with the potential to be a very good one. If he turns out to be even half as good as the German, Martinez should consider him for The Toffees.