James Tarkowski ticks one Everton box Frank Lampard has admitted needs major improvement

As soon as Everton's Premier League status was confirmed following an enthralling defeat of Crystal Palace, Frank Lampard started to look towards the future.

His first task of keeping the Toffees in the top flight was secured.

But having been a serial winner during his playing days, Lampard will now have similar ambitions in the Goodison Park hot seat.

He’s plotting how Everton can finish significantly higher in the table than 16th.

The summer transfer window will be fundamental to the Blues' ambitions for the 2022-23 campaign.

Tarkowski linked

Recruiting players who can improve the current squad and fit into Lampard's vision is imperative.

James Tarkowski is one of the early names linked with Everton.

The Telegraph reports that the Toffees and Aston Villa are hoping to snap up the two-cap England international on a free transfer following Burnley's relegation.

In truth, there's scant chance Tarkowski will be looking to remain at Turf Moor in the Championship. Staying in the top flight will be his priority.

Everton are fairly well stocked in central defence, although plenty of supporters would concur at least one fresh option is a necessity.

Mina concerns

Yerry Mina's quality is undeniable. When fit, he's comfortably Everton's best centre-back.

But keeping him healthy has been the problem. Since arriving from Barcelona for £27 million in the summer of 2018, he has persistently been ravaged by injuries.

This season, Mina was restricted to just 13 league appearances - and was substituted before half-time in three of those outings after breaking down.

Lampard tried to manage the Colombia international cautiously after his return from a two-month layoff in April - resting Mina for the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool.

Yet it would prove futile. Mina would sustain another setback and miss the final four games of the season.

There's been much debate about whether, with a year left on his contract, Everton should cash in on Mina.

He's allegedly one of the top earners at Goodison Park and there's a valid argument the Toffees are not getting full value for money.

Mina has averaged 19.75 league games per campaign during his four years on Merseyside.

Ben Godfrey, meanwhile, struggled with his own problems this term and managed to feature in only 23 top-flight matches - although three were due to Covid-19 problems at the beginning.

Availability is one of Tarkowski's key attributes.

In the same period that Mina has been at Everton, Tarkowski has been unavailable for just eight of Burnley's 152 league games.

This term, he was absent for three fixtures - one of which was after testing positive for coronavirus. The other two periods of absence for one game at a time.

In addition, Tarkowski has never been sent off for Burnley in the Premier League.

Both Mason Holgate and Michael Keane were forced to serve suspensions for Everton this term due to red cards.

Salary scrutiny

Of course, the caveat to Tarkowski's potential arrival is the wage packet that has been mooted.

The Telegraph claims that the Blues have offered the defender a £90,000-per-week deal, while other reports suggest he could be paid £120,000-per-week.

Sections of fans, unsurprisingly, have baulked at those figures - espeically the latter.

Splashing out high wages for players with no sell-on value is why the club now find themselves in a perilous financial position. Tarkowski falls into a similar category.

However, the 29-year-old is available on a free transfer, so a fee would be avoided.

If Tarkowski was handed a three-year deal on the aforementioned figure, it would work out at £14 million.

That's £5.8 million less than his market valuation, as per Transfermrkt, although signing-on and agent fees would have to be factored in.

Tarkowski is a proven, cast-iron Premier League performer who's low maintenance.

Lampard has spoken about how he wants to make Everton more robust given the surfeit of injuries he's had to deal with since taking over the driving seat at the end of January.

Tarkowski ticks that box emphatically - but much may come down to value for money.