Everton to push for new transfer as £7.5million immediately banked
Everton will bank an initial £3.5m for Ellis Simms from Coventry City in a deal that will feature staggered payments and could be worth up to £8m, according to iNews.
The Sky Blues announced the signing of the Finch Farm academy product on Friday 7 July on a four-year deal, with the 22-year-old expected to replace Toffees target Viktor Gyokeres, who looks set to join Portuguese outfit Sporting.
The Toffees will now push for their first new signing of the summer after also selling Ishe Samuels-Smith for £4m to Chelsea in recent days.
And according to iNews (8 July), the Toffees are set to bank £3.5m in a deal that will be staggered over the course of his time at Coventry, which should reach the overall total of £8m eventually.
It’s believed that Everton are set to use the sale of Simms and Samuels-Smith to bankroll new additions at Goodison Park.
Time to move
With pre-season getting underway at Goodison Park, Sean Dyche desperately needs some reinforcements in his squad after a disastrous campaign last term where they narrowly avoided relegation.
Everton’s financial issues have been made abundantly clear and may have to sell some of their key stars in order to fund moves for some of their targets.
The sale of Simms certainly represents a good start and a good deal for all parties involved as Dyche lets go of a player he no longer needs and Coventry get the replacement they want for Gyokeres.
Whether the money received is enough to bankroll a move for a major transfer target remains uncertain, but it’s clear Everton need whatever cash they can muster to help Dyche rebuild this ailing squad.
The defence and attack are of real pressing need right now and it’s time the Toffees made a move in the market. Who else could be exiting Goodison Park to increase their transfer kitty?
In other Everton news, the Toffees are also “hopeful” of wrapping up a cut-price deal for a proven top flight scorer despite mega-rich competition.