Anthony Gordon doubt keeps Everton in the race for Mykhalo Mudryk and Mohammed Kudus
Mykhalo Mudryk and Mohammed Kudus will remain options for Everton unless or until the future of star man Anthony Gordon is confirmed with a new Toffees deal.
The club jumped ahead of crowded fields in both instances to try to get transfers over the line for the two exciting attacking men before the transfer window closed, but were unsuccessful.
A €30million bid for Ukrainian winger Mudryk was not enough to sway Shakhtar Donetsk, and Ajax backtracked on allowing Ghanian international Kudus to leave when personal terms had been agreed.
The latter has since confirmed his preference was to move to Goodison Park in an interview with NOS (18 September).
It is tempting to assume that with the financial restrictions that remain a factor for the Toffees the two ships have sailed and the pair’s outstanding performances in the Champions League will have priced the club out of the market.
Two goals and two assists in as many European games for Shakhtar from Mudryk will have put him on the radar of plenty of clubs who may not have been as alive to his ability as Everton were last month, and the €50million price-tag is likely rising along with it.
Kudus scored excellent goals against both Rangers and Liverpool in the same competition and has added four more in the Eredivisie, to again leave Everton cursing a missed opportunity.
But it is virtually a given that both will be moving sooner or later, such is the model of both the Dutch and Ukrainian giants.
It is going to be a matter of money first and foremost, so while league performance will currently count against Frank Lampard’s side if they are competing against some of the biggest sides in Europe, there is one key reason why they are not out of the picture.
Anthony Gordon has rapidly assumed the mantel of star man in this Toffees team, with Richarlison a £60million Tottenham player now and Dominic Calvert-Lewin yet to feature this season.
Chelsea pushed hard to sign him in the final days of the window but were not able to reach an agreement, with the club eventually backing Lampard and informing his former side the 21-year-old was not for sale.
But while that was a major victory in the short term for the Toffees boss, and the club more widely, it emerged at the time that Gordon himself was interested in leaving, although he didn’t let it affect his play.
Fabrizio Romano has since reiterated that the academy product wanted to go [Caught Offside, 18 September], and with the contract extension that the Toffees have wanted to tie him to for some time still unsigned the saga is far from over.
Former Daily Star reporter Paul Brown and Chelsea-focused writer and podcaster Simon Phillips are both adamant that there will be further attempts from Stamford Bridge in the future, and likely also from Tottenham.
Brown told GiveMeSport (22 September) that Gordon’s advisors will have let the two London clubs know that a new deal at Goodison is not imminent, while Phillips told the same outlet (23 September) that the winger’s head was turned in the summer so he fully expects the move to be revived in January.
Lampard and the fans won’t want that obviously, but the club showed in August that they had irons in the fire as contingency if push comes to shove.
If Gordon has to go it will not be for cheap, with his current deal running to 2025, so if it turns out he will not sign another one Everton will need to insert themselves firmly back into the races for Mudryk and Kudus ready to bring in a replacement immediately with the money.
Kudus may be the more likely option since he has gone on record saying he wanted the move previously, while Mudryk is closer to like for like.
If an exit for the Toffees’ home grown star is still as likely as these sources are claiming it puts the club well in the mix for targets that might otherwise be out of their reach.