Daniel Feliciano

Tue 4 July 2023 18:10, UK

Almeria managing director Mohammed El Assy has confirmed that Everton have tabled a bid for striker El Bilal Toure this summer in an interview with Diario De Almeria (4 July).

Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri reported that the Toffees had tabled a €40m (£34.3m) offer for the Mali international, and want to pay the release clause in several instalments to bring him to Goodison Park.

Now El Assy has confirmed that there are three bids on the table for the 21-year-old striker, including Everton’s, and that negotiations are ongoing about a potential deal.

“It is not only that of Everton,” he said. “There a new owner has bought a part of the club, but it’s not just them.

“Officially there are three clubs interested in El Bilal with formal offers on the table. Two of them are Italian and one is English.

“And now we are in the middle of negotiations, from what we will see, since we are not going to broadcast them in the media.”

Wow

Rightly there were several doubts about whether or not Everton had really tabled a bid for the “outstanding” young striker because it’s such a big amount of money.

It’s well known that Everton are strapped for cash right now, with Farhad Moshiri desperate to get outside investment to ease the pressures the club are under.

But it seems that the bid is genuine and Everton’s hopes of getting it paid in several instalments is to avoid FFP restrictions that have been placed upon them by the FA and Premier League.

There is clearly interest in the player which means Everton need to move quickly to get a deal done, and with the club’s chief coming out publicly to confirm it means he clearly wants some form of bidding war sparked.

Everton can’t afford that and it explains why they need to pay release clauses or move on to other targets, but this looks like it’s certainly on the cards.

In other Everton news, the club have made contact with a Champions League club about signing one of their forwards.