Almeria ‘decided’ on El Bilal Toure sale as bid rejected in Everton vs Atalanta transfer race
Everton have had their bid to sign El Bilal Touré rejected and Atalanta have taken over with a higher offer, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The Toffees have reportedly not reached €30million [£25.7m] and have therefore been turned down by Almeria CEO Mohamed El Assy.
The transfer is set to be “one of the most expensive transfers in the history of UD Almería” but it appears from a club point of view the winner has been decided.
Fabrizio Romano had reported on Monday (24 July) that both Everton and Atalanta had bid the same amount, but with the Italian’s finalising a deal to sell Jeremie Boga to bring in more cash Romano reported later the same night a “final” bid totally €30m had gone in from Bergamo.
It looks like that last bid has proven the clincher as Mundo Deportivo report (25 July): “After a month in which the sports management of the Indálico team has received several offers for El Bilal, Atalanta has been the team that has taken the lead.
“In this way, El Assy rejects offers like Everton’s, which did not reach 30 million…
“The offers have been happening during this month, but Almería has already been decided. Bilal Touré will play next season at Atalanta.”
Disappointment
In theory the door is still open until this move is officially announced, with even the late flurry of reports over the past few days unexpected given Atalanta have Europa League football next season.
On the plus side it shows that there is at least some money available to push for a striker target who isn’t a complete bargain option.
But on the negative side it is another options who appears to have slipped through the Toffees’ grasp and leaves Sean Dyche still in need of a new arrival at the position.
Touré, 21, may prove to be a star in Serie A but is still relatively unproven at the top level with his seven-goal return in the previous campaign his best so far.
His speed is widely noted to be a prime asset and it certainly seems like Dyche and Everton were convinced that he could be their man.
But if this race is now run there is no time to lick their wounds at Goodison Park and the next man on the list of targets now needs to be pursued as a priority.
In other Everton news, Alan Myers has given his verdict on links to an exit-bound Chelsea ace after a previous bid was accepted.