Everton have had a very busy start to their transfer window, signing two new defenders in the first week of January, and they have now secured their third signing with Anwar El Ghazi arriving on loan until the end of the season.

However, will he be available to face Norwich this weekend?

What's the word?

Sky Sports journalist, Kaveh Solhekol, confirmed the signing of Aston Villa winger, Anwar El Ghazi on a loan deal that will last for the rest of the season, live on air during the channel's transfer show on Thursday afternoon.

In the process, he also revealed that the signing had been completed and paperwork finalised in time for the attacker to make his debut vs the Canaries on Saturday.

Solhekol told viewers:

“Everton have signed Anwar El Ghazi from Aston Villa. He can play for them in their game against Norwich at the weekend.”

The loan signing comes in the same day that former Everton left-back, Lucas Digne, signed for the winger's parent club, Aston Villa, in a permanent move for a £25m fee.

Benitez surely buzzing

The arrival of El Ghazi will surely soften the blow of losing fan favourite, Digne, as the opportunity has arisen to bolster the attacking options available in the squad, with a number of injuries hindering the side's ability to win games and climb the table during the first half of the season.

The main attacking threats in the side have been unavailable for large chunks of the season, with Richarlison returning to training this week after previously sitting on the sidelines twice already this term through injury.

That's along with a long injury spell for Dominic Calvert-Lewin who has recently returned too. Meanwhile, Alex Iwobi is at AFCON but has failed to make a great impact on the side, so the addition of the 26-year-old winger could really benefit the side going forward, and Benitez will be buzzing as a result.

He will also be elated to have him available so soon after signing him, especially with some fans taking to social media to actually hail the addition. One Tweeted:

"Unpopular opinion but El Ghazi for 8 months could be a decent signing. If we get consistency out of him he has a lot of talent and he isn’t Iwobi."

El Ghazi averaged a goal every 161 minutes last season in the Premier League and when you compare that to Everton's attackers, it bodes incredibly well. Richarlison scored every 410 minutes, Calvert-Lewin was every 179 minutes, and Iwobi netted every 1540 minutes in 2020/21.

Thus, the Dutch winger being available to start against Norwich tomorrow, where Benitez will be hoping to take all three points from Carrow Road, will give the Spanish tactician a huge boost to his team's chances.

However, it will be interesting to see if the club's boss actually selects El Ghazi in his starting XI.

In other news: Everton interested in signing Burnley’s Dwight McNeil