Barcelona make Everton star Amadou Onana ‘number one target’ for £34.1m summer transfer
FC Barcelona have made Everton star Amadou Onana their “number one target” for a midfield signing this summer, but they have no intention of paying more than £34.1m.
Writing on their website (14 February), Spanish news outlet Sport report that the Belgium midfielder has been identified by Deco as the top option to add muscle to the Catalan giants’ squad.
But while Onana is the favourite to arrive, they will have to convince Everton to accept £34.1m as they don’t want to spend more than that while the Toffees have set his asking price at around €60m (£51.2m).
“Deco believes that the team lacks ‘physical and athletic ability’ to beat its opponents and will try to resolve it in the next market,” they wrote.
“The favorite to arrive as a midfielder is Amadou Onana, Everton’s Senegalese player who stands out for his formidable physical display and good control of the ball.
“He is a very positional player although he has arrival. The possible relegation of the Toffees (they have already received a first sanction with a loss of points and a second could come with catastrophic consequences) would facilitate his incorporation. Barça does not intend to pay more than €40m (£34.1m).”
Everton have a tough summer transfer window ahead
With the financial situation at the club right now, Everton will be expecting to lose at least one top star in the summer and that obviously isn’t ideal.
With the 10-point deduction leaving the club in a relegation battle when they should be in mid-table, the chances of losing the best players at the club have grown also and the summer transfer window now looks like it’s going to to be very hard to navigate.
There is already talk of clubs wanting to sign Jarrad Branthwaite too, and the Toffees are unlikely to be in a position where they can turn down big offers. It will be even more difficult if they fail to avoid the drop down to the Championship.
But if Barcelona are only going to be willing to spend £34.1m, which is pretty much exactly what we paid for him two years ago, then there’s no hope they’ll win the race.
Other clubs are interested and will surely be willing to pay more, plus with the fact he’s got plenty of time on his contract we’re not in a position where everything must be accepted so we can hold out for the best bid.
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