Everton and Tottenham top list for £17.6million match-winner Rodrigo Becao, Udinese seek replacement as Inter joins race
Inter are now eyeing Udinese defender Rodrigo Becao but Everton and Tottenham are still the most prominent clubs after the Brazilian, Mondo Udinese reports.
The centre-back is having a “great” season in Italy and proved the match-winner as his header took the points against Empoli on Saturday (11 March).
The 27-year-old is proving increasingly popular, and with a price-tag of around €20million [£17.6million] looks like could be on the move in the summer.
Inter, with Milan Skriniar bound for PSG at the end of his contract, Stefan De Vrij also set to be a free agent in the summer and on-loan Lazio man Francesco Acerbi not yet certain to be made permanent, are now looking at Becao as a target.
Everton and Spurs are the “two most talked about” of a number of interested sides from England, and Udinese are now searching for a replacement ahead of a potential departure, with Mundo Udinese (14 March) reporting “the hunt has already begun”.
Priority?
There is a relative glut of central defensive options within the Toffees squad currently, but the summer is certain to see significant turnover.
Conor Coady’s once-certain permanent signing appears to be in jeopardy since losing his place to Michael Keane under Sean Dyche, while the former Burnley man could yet leave at the end of the season when his contract has a year left.
Yerry Mina is as good as gone when his deal expires as injury issues have plagued his career at Goodison Park, while Mason Holgate has played 45-minutes of Premier League football since August and will also have 12-months left at the end of the campaign.
So with three possibly departing there will certainly be room for additions, dependent on Dyche’s wishes and success in avoiding relegation.
The increasingly sought-after Jarrad Branthwaite should have a shot at becoming a first-team fixture after a successful loan move to PSV, unless the Dutch side make an offer that Everton can’t refuse for the youngster.
But Becao’s price for a 119 Serie A appearances is not prohibitive, and given the problems suffered by current Toffees defenders his injury record is good.
Aside from an issue that kept him out of five games going into the World Cup, he had only missed four individual league games with injury since 2019 [Transfermarkt].
Inter are evidently in need of reinforcements, and Everton fans will be sick of the site of Spurs when it comes to the transfer market after the Richarlison and Arnaut Danjuma episodes, so the club cannot afford to lose ground if they intend to follow through with this one.