Everton ‘surprise’ Almeria with loan-to-buy El Bilal Toure transfer offer
Everton have made an offer to Almeria for El Bilal Toure in the form of a loan with an obligation to buy the striker, according to Mail Plus.
The young forward has been in the Toffees’ sights since he was a Stade de Reims player last summer, but his value has shot up in the season since and he is now reportedly worth as much as €40million [£34.3m].
RMC Sport journalist Sacha Tavolieri had reported via Twitter on 3 July that a bid of that value had been put on the table by Everton, to be paid in instalments, with Almeria managing director Mohamed El Assy confirming to Diario de Almeria a day later that the Toffees had made an offer.
A Goodison source denied that was the case to i News at the weekend (8 July), but according to Mail Plus the “cash-conscious” Toffees have caused “surprise” at the Spanish club by offering an initial loan with an obligation that would be paid in four chunks.
Atalanta are also interested in 21-year-old Toure, who has scored 16 league goals in his senior career and remains somewhat unproven.
Pursuit
The latest update suggests that the truth may lie somewhere in between what has reportedly come out via the English and Spanish sides of the matter.
It appears that the Toffees are willing to put up significant cash to sign the attacker but, in line with the financial pressures that it is widely thought the club is currently under, just can’t do so up front.
Whether Almeria would be prepared to sanction a deal that locks in a lot of money but only some way down the line remains to be seen, and whether committing that much to a youngster who has four seasons in top flight European football with a top return of seven goals makes sense is open to question.
Toure is a full Mali international already with five goals in 15 caps, and clearly has talent or he wouldn’t have moved a year ago and be wanted by multiple clubs again this summer.
But Everton have been badly lacking in front of goal in the past year, and last summer’s signing of Neal Maupay has proven to be a bad miss with just one strike from the Frenchman all season.
Unless Sean Dyche is convinced that Toure fits his system and can be effective, either in conjunction with a fit Dominic Calvert-Lewin or in place of an injured one, it represents a risk.
There certainly seems to be significant interest but if it is the case that Almeria are “surprised” by the format of the offer it might suggest it isn’t what they are looking for, so unless Bill Kenwright’s fabled negotiating skills can be put to good use it might not win the day.
In other Everton news, a journalist can’t see how Toffees links to a free agent swoop for a recent Arsenal exit make sense.