According to Gianluca Di Marzio on Sky Sports News, as per Sky Sports’ Transfer Centre (January 23, 9:08pm), Everton have made Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg their top January midfield target, and one statistic in particular would make him an instant Goodison Park hero.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Di Marzio said on Sky Sports News that the Denmark international is the Merseyside outfit’s priority central midfield signing this month.

Sky Sports had reported earlier this month that Everton were keen to sign a new centre-back and central midfielder during the current window, and it appears as though the Saints captain is top of their list.

However, Di Marzio added that the Toffees aren’t keen to pay the former Bayern Munich man’s reported £35m price tag.

One stat in particular stands out

Well, prior to the previous two rounds of Premier League fixtures, The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas reported that Hojbjerg had recovered possession 218 times in the English top flight this season, with West Ham United’s Declan Rice next up on 184, Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi on 170 and Chelsea’s Jorginho on 165.

Of course those numbers will have changed now, but there is no doubt that is an outstanding tally from the Dane.

Indeed, WhoScored tweeted following the club’s victory against Norwich City in December that the 24-year-old had won possession in the midfield third 18 times, which was a record in a Premier League match since they started recording data in the 2009/10 campaign.

There is no doubt that in the absence of the injured Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin in recent months, central midfield areas have been a big problem for the Toffees, with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Morgan Schneiderlin flopping in the Merseyside Derby earlier this month, as shown by their low match ratings from The Liverpool Echo.

They haven’t really had that player willing to get stuck in and win the ball back like they did last season when Idrissa Gueye averaged 4.3 tackles and 2.2 interceptions per game in the top flight, as per WhoScored.

Call yourself an Everton expert? How much did each of these January signings cost?

This term, the central midfield leaders in those two statistics for players that have featured in 10 Premier League matches or more are Schneiderlin (2) and Tom Davies (1.4) respectively.

Meanwhile, Hojbjerg has 2.5 tackles and 1.5 interceptions showing he would be an improvement in that regard, but it is his success at recovering possession that would help to lift a Goodison Park crowd who have endured a frustrating season – as shown by the late collapse against Newcastle United in midweek.

In other Everton news, a Brazilian journalist has offered a fresh update on the club’s pursuit of Gremio winger Everton Soares…