Noel Whelan has told Football Insider that Everton's expected signing of Asmir Begovic from Bournemouth is incredibly smart business by the Toffees. 

The veteran goalkeeper is widely expected to be set for a move on a free transfer to Goodison Park after transfer guru Fabrizio Romano confirmed the news on Twitter recently.

Bournemouth are said to have granted Begovic his wish of getting a move back to the top flight and he is set to leave the Vitality Stadium with one year remaining on his contract with the Cherries.

Now Whelan has hailed Everton for being on the verge of completing the transfer, as he stated the following recently:

"To get a player of that quality, who has a wealth of Premier League experience on a free is an absolute no-brainer for me.

"Pickford is your number one and he always will be but to have that quality a backup is just brilliant.

"He is a goalkeeper you can trust and a goalkeeper who can push Pickford in training. His experience will benefit Pickford.

"When you look at the benches of the other top clubs and they have good, experienced keepers. Begovic is just a fantastic signing on a free."

Begovic was a regular for the South Coast side last term as they narrowly missed out on promotion back to the top flight as they lost out to Brentford over two legs in the play-off semi finals.

The Bosnian shot stopper is now expected to sign a two year deal with Everton in the near future.

The Verdict

I cannot help but agree with Whelan on this one, as I think it is a major coup for Everton to get in a player with such experience for almost nothing.

It's interesting that Bournemouth have allowed him to leave so willingly, as he was a starter almost every week during the campaign just gone.

Clearly Scott Parker didn't want to stand in the player's way and I'm sure that the Cherries will be happy to get his high wages off their books.

At the age of 34, a move back to the Premier League is always going to be hard to come by, so you can fully understand why Begovic has leapt at the chance to move to Merseyside.