Everton rejected late Chelsea bid including players for Richarlison – Fabrizio Romano
Everton rejected an 11th hour bid from Chelsea for Richarlison the day before he underwent his Tottenham medical, says Fabrizio Romano.
The Brazilian forward joined the north London club in a £60m move on 30 June, as Everton needed to balance their books ahead of potential FFP restrictions being implemented.
But it’s now emerged that Chelsea made a late bid to hijack the deal the day before his medical, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that the Toffees rejected a player plus cash deal from the Blues on his “Here We Go” podcast [6 September].
“The night before Richarlison had his Tottenham medical Chelsea submitted a bid that included some players but Everton said no because they had a higher bid from Tottenham,” he said.
“Thiago Silva sent messages to Richarlison to convince him to join Chelsea, but it was too late.”
Good decision
At the time had this bid come out in the public domain then Everton fans would have been clamouring to bring in some of the fringe players at Chelsea to help replace him.
But looking back now in hindsight and knowing the business we actually managed to do during the window, it was the right decision for the club to take the cash over fringe players.
Lampard was able to build a squad that he wanted and bring in a profile of player that he thought was ideal, and while we don’t know which Chelsea players were reportedly offered it’s unlikely to have been anyone he really wanted.
The money came in handy for the club to be able to sign Amadou Onana for a good fee and also Dwight McNeil and James Garner for moderate fees, while also helped to free up wages too.
Ultimately it’s worked out perfectly for the Toffees and Richarlison, and Chelsea didn’t go without in the market either, but it’s interesting to note the deal almost didn’t happen how it actually went.