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Weston McKinnie is set to be offered to Everton “on a plate” in an attempt to negotiate a deal for Amadou Onana, according to CalcioMercato.
The Toffees midfielder has been a prominent performer for Belgium at the World Cup in Qatar, where the Old Lady’s American international has also impressed, particularly in the 0-0 draw with England on Friday (25 November).
Onana, 21, has featured in every Premier League game since his £33million [BBC] move from Lille in the summer, and is now a regular starter for Frank Lampard, but is wanted in Serie A with Juve unhappy with the performances of Leandro Paredes.
According to CalcioMercato, the Argentine was signed in a hurry to replace the injured Paul Pogba but has not impressed and will almost certainly leave before next season.
Instead they want the €40million-rated [£34.5million] Onana and are ready to include McKinnie in the deal because they don’t want to pay the full fee, while Everton’s “disappointing season” and “grey prospects for the future” are cited as reasons why Onana may wish to move on already.
The same publication had suggested a week earlier (21 November) that McKinnie, 24, is available for between €25-30million [£21.6-25.9million], with Tottenham reportedly interested, which was backed up by CBS journalist Ben Jacobs who reported on Twitter four days later that Spurs are “seriously considering” the US international.
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Farfetched
Onana is only going to attract more interest the more established he becomes as a Premier League and international player.
But Everton got in at the right time to land a youngster who could develop into a dominant midfielder and are sure to have no plans to sell him on already.
Onana has shown no signs of wishing to leave Goodison and has spoken of the significance that Lampard played in the move.
As long as the Toffees’ form improves sufficiently after the World Cup to see off another relegation battle then there seems little prospect that they would be forced into losing Onana, or that he would be looking to leave.
If he was so enchanted by the idea of moving to the Allianz Stadium in just his third season of senior football then Everton could do worse than McKinnie in return plus a decent fee.
But after the Italian giants’ entire board resigned on Monday night [Mirror] it seems like a complicated player plus cash deal is the least of their worries right now.
If the American is available then his performances in Qatar are sure to convince someone to stump up the fee for him, and that sounds like it could well be Spurs, but while he may end up in the Premier League Onana is surely not going anyway right now.