Everton transfer news: ‘Successful’ Andre Gomes loan generates interest, ‘larger operation’ now on the cards – club president
Lille president Olivier Letang has revealed that the French club will not be able to re-sign Andre Gomes from Everton after his loan in Ligue 1.
The Portuguese midfielder has slipped down the pecking order at Goodison Park and is one of the players on sizeable contracts that the club would like to move on [Liverpool Echo, 6 July].
He made 27 total appearances in France last season and according to Letang the Toffees see the move as a “success” that has them eyeing a transfer of a size that Lille can’t match after he regained “visibility” and “interest” in the market.
Letang said, as per Le Petit Lillois: “André is a boy with whom we have remained in contact. We knew that the economic framework was very complex for us because André, and good for him, has a rather substantial contract, but he deserves it, with Everton. The conditions have not been met to ensure that he continues the adventure with us.
“I think it’s going to be very complicated. He was very happy here, he was very important, he’s a great player, he’s humanly someone top, but he also regained visibility, interest. His club thinks that he has been successful, and that it is possible to carry out a larger operation. It’s an economic framework that is not possible”.
Positive
Everton must have had some sort of indication that there is a more lucrative agreement out there for Gomes, because it certainly sounds like Letang would be happy to have the 29-year-old back.
Given the tight finances at Goodison it would be of benefit simply to move the former Barcelona man off the wage bill and get him into a situation where he can play regularly.
Any sort of fee might be seen as a bonus, but if he has proven himself in the past 12 months to the level where a market now exists this summer then perhaps the Toffees are hoping for a sale that increases Sean Dyche’s transfer budget.
The manager hasn’t had the benefit of assessing Gomes first-hand until now, but the midfielder is part of the group that travelled to Switzerland so the door is perhaps open to Dyche incorporating him back into the first-team squad again.
However, even with the exit of Tom Davies, after the former academy product rejected a contract extension, the midfield department is probably the most crowded in the senior set up.
The possibility that Amadou Onana is sold to fund incoming business looms over the transfer window at Everton, so supporters would surely prefer for a surprise cash boost on Gomes to help avoid that.
The message from Lille suggests there is a chance of that, and if it is available Dyche would surely prefer it to materialise sooner rather than later.
In other Everton news, Martin Samuel has suggested that the club “may have a new signing” after the Dele Alli news.