Fabrizio Romano shares Benfica stance as Everton launch Florentino Luis transfer push
Benfica are not willing to allow Florentino Luis to leave temporarily during the January transfer window despite recent links with Everton, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian journalist reported via his X account on Monday (29 January) that the Portuguese giants are not open to letting Luis depart on a loan deal during the closing stages of the window, describing such a deal as “impossible” at this stage.
Reports emerged from Ben Jacobs (29 January) that Sean Dyche’s side held a genuine interest in the midfielder this month and were exploring a loan deal to bring him to Goodison Park before Thursday’s (1 February) transfer deadline.
Writing on X, Romano said: “Understand Benfica are not open to let Florentino Luis leave on loan to Everton despite recent links. Benfica see loan deal as impossible for the final days of the window.”
Gutting
After a quiet start to the month at Goodison Park, it had seemed as though Everton had finally started to kick start their transfer business with a truly exciting signing in the closing days of the window.
However, such a move now appears to be off the cards with a loan switch for Luis now impossible, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering Benfica would have very little time to replace him before the transfer deadline.
It feels unlikely that Everton would have the financial capacity to secure the midfielder’s services on a permanent deal this month, given the poor financial position of the Toffees currently, especially with the looming threat of FFP.
Maybe something could change in the final days of the transfer window, but at the moment this one doesn’t feel like it will be going anywhere unless something drastically changes quickly.
In other Everton news, Joey Barton has been left enraged by an incident during the Toffees’ FA Cup clash with Luton
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