Everton transfer news: Almeria look to surpass Darwin Nunez fee in El Bilal Toure ‘tug of war’ after £25m Goodison bid
El Bilal Toure “will be sold for more than €30million” [£25.7m] but the Everton target’s €40m [£34.2m] release clause is not “acceptable” for any interested club, according to AS.
The Toffees are heavily involved in the chase for the 21-year-old forward, with multiple reported offers so far unable to seal a deal as they look to add a much-needed striker ahead of main rivals Atalanta.
The Mirror reported on Thursday (13 June) that the club had tabled a £25m offer for the Mali international, which was not sufficient to move the Spanish side.
Everton had previously looked to match the release clause in instalments, and also wanted to pay following a loan, but it appears Almeria are look to set a new club record in terms of money recouped for his sale, even if the release clause isn’t met.
According to AS that is currently Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez at €34m [£29.1m], made up of a €24m fee to sell the Uruguayan to Benfica in 2020 and a further €10m received upon his move to Anfield two years later [£20.5m plus £8.6m].
According to AS: “Almería is in a dominant position in a negotiation in which there are several teams that want El Bilal Touré.
“There is no rush to close the sale because, in this tug of war, the nine will be sold for more than thirty million euros , an amount that would exceed Darwin’s initial sale.
“[His] clause is forty, numbers that in no case seem acceptable for any group.”
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It is starting to look like a difficult one for Everton to get over the line if none of the options that are available to them are sufficient to convince Almeria.
A loan, big money paid over time, or a significant but smaller fee all appear to have fallen short, so the youngster may be out of reach.
Clearly a talent, he would still be a relatively unproven option to spend a major fee on at this stage when Sean Dyche has various signings to source on what looks to be a small budget.
Losing out on the bargain deal for Rodrigo from Leeds United was a significant blow in that regard, as it would have partly addressed a major question for low cost.
It appears that Everton have belief that they can get a deal done for Toure despite the numbers involved, having stuck with it for some time, but if it is becoming prohibitive they will need to move onto more available targets.
Wasting too much time in the window running up a blind alley on a deal that is beyond their budget would store up problems for Dyche, who surely needs two or three attackers in before the new season starts.
In other Everton news, the manager’s options are set to be depleted further with a first-team ace “in talks” over a lucrative exit.