Everton want ‘structured’ Che Adams deal as Bournemouth bid for Southampton striker, Nottingham Forest also interested
Everton are interested in a “structured deal” for Southampton’s Che Adams amid Premier League competition, according to Mike McGrath.
The Telegraph journalist reported via Twitter on Friday (11 August) that Bournemouth have made a £13million offer for the Scotland international, with Nottingham Forest also “long-term admirers”.
The Toffees have completed the signing of Youssef Chermiti from Sporting but Sean Dyche is looking for another senior option in addition.
The Chermiti deal could be worth as much as £15m but Dyche has already said he isn’t necessarily set to contribute immediately [Times, 10 August].
Doable?
There appears to be cash available to make signings before the window shuts, but structuring the payments favourably would make more business possible for Everton.
The budget isn’t extensive so even if there is still an ability to spend questions may need to be asked about shelling out decent money on a forward for the future when help is needed right now.
Adams has been there and done it in the Premier League, but if he is going to cost around the same amount again he is far from the 10-15 goal-a-season that the Toffees are going to need if Dominic Calvert-Lewin is unavailable again.
Neal Maupay hasn’t proven to be so after his own £15m arrival from Brighton last summer [BBC Sport], and Dyche’s early verdict on Chermiti suggests he is only going to get close to that if he takes to the Premier League like a duck to water.
Clearly it is tough for Dyche and Kevin Thelwell to compete at the top table for signings right now, but amid the pursuit of another player for around the same price point without a huge goalscoring record, the cash spent will soon begin to add up.
Should Everton fight their way to the front of the queue for Adams they would have spent over £40m, structured or otherwise, on three strikers who could arguably be less than the sum of their parts.
Either way Adams is not a poor player and it certainly seems like Dyche likes the look of him, but it will be a challenge to overcome Bournemouth who are already putting cash on the table.
In other Everton news, another bid has emerged in the Toffees hunt for a further attacking signing.