George Overhill

Mon 24 July 2023 7:10, UK

Everton have an equal chance of success and failure amid “advanced talks” to sign Almeria striker El Bilal Touré, in the view of Alan Myers.

With the club battling Atalanta to sign the 21-year-old Mali international it has become a head-to-head race to bring him in, but with the Toffees operating with suspected spending constraints it appeared the Italians were pushing into the lead [Alfredo Pedulla, 19 July].

However, it emerged on Sunday night that the Toffees were still firmly involved [Fabrizio Romano, 23 July], with Sky Sports journalist Myers following up to share that Everton were at an “advanced” stage and a conclusion was expected in just a couple of days.

And Myers has now put the two sides neck and neck, despite Atalanta being in the Europa League next season, and the Toffees coming off the back of two-straight relegation battles.

In a late response to his update on the negotiations he answered a question on Twitter on the Serie A side potentially being favourites to say simply: “50-50”.

Coin flip

In the context of the recent success-rate in transfer market most Evertonians would probably accept those chances, especially against a club with European football.

The draw of the Premier League means a lot in these situations, and highlights just why it was so crucial for Sean Dyche to drag this team to safety two months ago.

Even with the widely documented financial pressures it may be that the wages on offer at Goodison are still competitive against Serie A and could help tempt Touré to Merseyside.

If the manager and the recruitment department have scouted the right target then it could be a real game-changer next season to actually bring him in.

Everton look completely transformed with a fully-fit Dominic Calvert-Lewin playing, as was demonstrated in the stunning 5-1 win away at Brighton on 8 May.

But the drop off when he is struck down by regular injury concerns is major, so having a genuine threat down the middle to carry the load in that eventuality would be huge.

Touré has only scored 16 goals in Ligue 1 and La Liga so far in his career, but seven goals and two assists from just 21 appearances last term was his best showing so far.

So if he is on an upward trajectory the fee, which could be as much as €40m [£34m] if the Blues have triggered his release clause, may end up looking like a bargain if they can finally get one over the line.

In other Everton news, a Sky Sports pundit now thinks Bill Kenwright is going nowhere after what Farhad Moshiri did.