Everton offered Italy striker Mateo Retegui amid transfer news involving Brentford and Crystal Palace
Everton have been offered the chance to sign Italy international Mateo Retegui as the a host of European clubs gear up for him to move this summer, 90min reports.
The 23-year-old forward is currently on loan from Boca Juniors to Tigre in Argentina but exploded onto the international scene over the most recent international break, scoring on his Italy debut against England on 23 March, before netting again in the Malta match three days later.
His 100% strike-rate for the Azzurri has seen his asking price shoot up to as much as €20million [£17.5million] according to Gazzetta dello Sport on 28 March, with Boca and Tigre set to split his rights and cash in with a sale to Europe this summer.
And they are hedging their bets as Everton, along with a group of English clubs including Leeds, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leicester and Burnley, have all been offered him.
And there is strong interest from the continent with both Milan clubs, Napoli, Lazio and Atalanta on the case from Serie A, while the likes of Atletico Madrid and Sevilla from La Liga and Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt are also engaged.
Opening
On one hand the Toffees badly need striker help and there is now one being brought direct to them who is in great scoring form over the past couple of seasons – 30 in 53 for Tigre.
On the other this is set to be an auction, and a very crowded one at that, with the Argentine clubs surely looking to make as much as possible.
While Premier League money gives most top flight English clubs an advantage over the vast majority of European sides at the moment, Everton might be one of the only sides who that doesn’t currently apply to.
The current FFP charge from the league has once again illustrated how spending at Goodison is anything but free, and the Toffees have already shown a worrying habit of missing out on attacking targets with a strike-rate of zero in the January window.
The club overcame the competition to land Amadou Onana last summer, and have been rewarded with a quality player, but it would be a surprise if Retegui fell through the crowd and arrived at Everton this summer.
However, surely somebody is going to have to, assuming Sean Dyche can be successful in the relegation battle, because for all the excitement around Ellis Simms and Tom Cannon it is still by far the weakest area of the squad.