Everton want Samuel Chukwueze as icing on cake as club-record deal on the cards for deadline day
Everton could table a huge bid to sign Samuel Chukwueze from Villarreal before the transfer window closes at 11pm on Thursday, according to Super Deporte.
The Spanish news outlet reported on Wednesday (31 August) that the Toffees are willing to offer between £34.5million and £43.1million to sign the 23-year-old Nigeria forward.
It is understood that it could be a club-record fee for Villarreal if they sell Chukwueze for anything around that price.
Super Deporte add that Everton want to round off their summer business by adding the “icing on the cake” and Chukwueze is “the favourite” for that.
Not happening
There’s no way Everton are spending that much money.
While Chukwueze may be a very good player, he’s not someone who they need right now – especially at that price.
He hasn’t even started a league game for Villarreal this season, coming off the bench in their three La Liga fixtures to date.
The Nigerian is a versatile forward who can play on either wing or up front but we’d only need him – and be able to afford him – if Anthony Gordon goes and that seems very unlikely right now with just over 12 hours left of the summer transfer window.
Everton need to add to their attacking options before the window closes but they also need to look at offloading a couple of midfielders based on the players coming into the club.
Due to Financial Fair Play, Everton need to be careful about what they do in the final hours of the summer transfer window and signing Chukwueze for that sort of money wouldn’t be very wise.
Let’s hope this is just speculation because no one in England – let alone Merseyside – has reported on this so far.