According to Sports World Ghana, Everton are keen to sign Southampton forward Kamaldeen Sulemana. The Saints are open to letting the player make the trip north to Merseyside, but the deal will likely be structured as an initial season-long loan, with the Toffees holding a £25 million purchase option.

Sulemana only joined the south coast club in the January transfer window, when Southampton shelled-out £22 million for the 21-year-old. The attacker had previously been playing regularly in Ligue 1 with Rennes.

The Ghanaian struggled to shine once he arrived the Premier League, albeit in a Southampton side who were below par everywhere on the pitch. Sulemana was able to score 2 goals in his 18 league appearances, but couldn’t help Southampton steer clear of the drop.

Sulemana has a point to prove in the Premier League

Sulemana certainly still has plenty to prove at Premier League level, and signing him on loan initially represents a relatively risk-free course of action for Everton. The youngster certainly has the potential to thrive in the top flight, and Sean Dyche will back himself to get the best out of the player.

Whilst this move seems like a safe gamble in one sense for the Toffees, it also doesn’t inspire a great deal of confidence in the club’s progress towards building a squad that can comfortably stave off any relegation threat.

Everton only just escaped relegation last time out, and wouldn’t be wise to pin too many of their hopes on Sulemana. The Goodison Park faithful would likely prefer to see a more established and proven talent being brought into the club to compete for a place in Dyche’s starting XI.

Sulemana will arrive with it all to prove at Everton. However, if he exceeds all expectations and has an excellent season then Everton will at least be perfectly placed to snap him up on a permanent basis without any trouble.