By George Overhill

3rd Feb, 2023 | 5:40pm

Union Berlin know they could lose Everton target Sheraldo Becker in the summer amid concrete Monday bid

A concrete bid was tabled for Everton and West Ham target Sheraldo Becker on Monday and he could now move in the summer, Christian Falk reports.

Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg had reported via Twitter on the same day (30 January) the possibility of an offer from Goodison Park before the window closed, although the Toffees ultimately failed to sign anyone.

Now Bild’s Falk reports that an offer definitely was put on the table from one of the two interested Premier League sides, and while the Suriname international remained at the Bundesliga side as they chase Champions League qualification he is much more likely to be available to move in the summer.

Falk wrote in his Fact Files as part of Fabrizio Romano’s Substack column for Caught Offside on Friday (3 February): “Both West Ham and Everton are interested in Sheraldo Becker. We’ve just had it confirmed that Union received a concrete offer on Monday, though it’s not immediately clear which of the two submitted it.

“Union, however, now have a chance to potentially secure Champions League football next year and they’re still in the cup, so that’s why they were reluctant to sell Sheraldo.

“But in the summer they know they could lose him. He’s got a contract that runs until 2025. I could imagine seeing him switch to the Premier League in the summer.”

Still a chance?

There is no little disquiet at the fact that Everton went into the January window in a pretty disastrous state and yet still came out of it weaker, after selling Anthony Gordon to Newcastle and signing nobody.

Becker was one of a list of players that the Toffees failed to land as the window ticked down, including Kamaldeen Sulemana, Olivier Giroud and Duvan Zapata.

Union are currently a point behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga as they continue their rise through German football since unification in 1990, and after finishing fifth last season the prospect of the Champions League has put them off selling an important player.

That is one of many reasons why Everton failed to strengthen Sean Dyche’s squad, with the former Burnley boss left the task of keeping the club up purely through coaching.

But it sounds like if he does that Becker would be a gettable target in the summer, and a versatile wide forward who has eight goals and five assists in all competitions this season might be a decent option, to replace Gordon at least.

There’s a long way to go yet and Dyche has a huge challenge on his hands to preserve Premier League status, but if he can do that the club have to make more of a success in the summer window than they did this January, with Becker possibly waiting as the prize if they can stay up.