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This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...

As reported by The Guardian, Everton are weighing up a move for Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph, who may have found himself surplus to requirements.

What's the word, then?

Well, after the Premier League champions completed the club-record signing of Rodri from Atletico Madrid, Delph has been pushed even further down the pecking order in Pep Guardiola's midfield.

Whilst you may argue that he can still play at left-back, the Citizens also activated their buy-back clause in Angelino's contract to provide competition for Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko - this may make Delph's chances of game time in his second position even harder to come by.

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Marco Silva is said to be considering a move for the 29-year-old - who is in the last year of his contract at the Etihad Stadium - to provide depth in midfield, with the former Hull boss having ample cover at left-back after agreeing a new deal with Lucas Digne's back-up Leighton Baines.

Would be a repeat of the Theo Walcott mistake

The £20m capture of Theo Walcott from Arsenal was a terrible deal for Everton, in almost every way that you can think of.

He cost a huge fee, was placed on wages of £100k-a-week and has proven to be a complete and utter flop with just nine goals in 54 appearances - that simply isn't good enough given how much he has cost the Toffees.

Walcott was also signed at the age of 28, meaning he now has little sell-on value at the age of 30.

Delph is 29, currently earns £90k-a-week with the Citizens, and wouldn't even be signed as a starter - can you see the similarities?

Marcel Brands has outlined the intention to bring players between the age of 20-25/26 to the club, a method which has seen the Toffees be rewarded by the performances of players in that bracket such as Lucas Digne and Richarlison.

Going against that to sign Delph would be all sorts of wrong and could potentially end up being a repeat of the nightmarish Walcott capture - Everton must steer clear.