Jonty Banks

Thu 9 March 2023 18:10, UK

Everton must resign themselves to the fact that Roma striker Tammy Abraham will be out of reach in the summer transfer window after Fabrizio Romano’s latest update on the player.

The Guardian journalist reported on Thursday (9 March) that Chelsea have an €80m (£70million) buy-back clause option for Abraham in the summer transfer window – a price that the Toffees would be extremely unlikely to be able to match.

The news on Abraham follows the Le Gazzetta dello Sport (9 March) report that stated that Everton and Aston Villa were at the front of the queue for the striker, who has only managed to score six goals from 25 games this term.

However, with Chelsea needing to fork out £70million for the 25-year-old’s services and Roma setting a fixed price of £67million on anybody who wants to sign Abraham in the summer – any hopes that Everton held on a blockbuster transfer have been thrown out of the window.

A move for the Englishman always seemed far-fetched and a distant hope due to the Toffees’ struggles in the Premier League this season – especially with the threat of relegation – but nonetheless, it will be a bitter pill to swallow.

The Toffees have had to spend frugally in the past 12 months following years of mislaid transfer funds, and there is next-to-no chance Farhad Moshiri would be willing to dig that deep into his pockets to sign a player.

The January transfer window was a plain example of the club’s financial restraints as they saw rumoured moves for the likes of Arnaut Danjuma, Michail Antonio and Conor Gallagher all fail for a number of reasons.

Despite an attacker being top of Sean Dyche’s summer shopping list even if the club get relegated to the Championship this season, Abraham will most likely be looking for a club playing European football that has a secure platform in the Premier League.

A marquee summer move always looked a little far-fetched, but the release of Chelsea’s buy-back clause has all but confirmed Everton fans’ worst fears.