As first reported by Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke, Everton have agreed a deal to sign Aston Villa midfielder Tim Iroegbunam. The 20-year-old central midfielder is set to join the Toffees in a deal worth somewhere in the region of £10million after a “breakthrough” in talks.
The young Englishman is said to be highly rated at his current club however a number of factors have led to him being shown the door at Villa Park this summer. Most prevalent is Iroegbunam’s lack of game time during his time in the Midlands, with the midfielder managing just nine league appearances as the Villans finished fourth in the Premier League.
The second reason behind his exit is Villa’s need to sell players to satisfy FFP rules. An earlier report by Football Inisder suggested that the Villans need to raise £60 million in player sales this summer before they can start to bring fresh faces in. With Unai Emery unlikley to want to lose any of his key players, it is inevitable that promising but non-essential talents like Iroegbunam will be sacrificed in order to balance Villa’s books.
Despite struggling for game time at his parent club, Iroegbunam has excelled out on loan in particular during a spell with QPR in 2022/23. The midfielder made 32 appearances for the Hoops and earned the plaudits of then manager Michael Beale in the process.
Speaking to the press following Iroegbunam’s debut, Beale was quick to praise the midfielder: “Tim’s a very good player and we’re fortunate to have him. We can’t rush him. He’s 19 but I think he’s going to have a good season here with us.”
In this situation, Villa’s loss will certainly be Everton’s gain with the Toffees getting their hands on a quality talent for a cheap price.
