Everton are reconsidering our advances to sign Flamengo product Reinier in January, according to Brazilian publication Globo Esporte.
The 17-year-old midfielder has been attracting Europe wide interest after it emerged that the Rubro-Negro were willing to reach an agreement over his future, due to fears he could leave for free in December 2020 when his contract expires.
Blues chiefs reportedly sat down with Flamengo executives Marcos Braz and Bruno Spindel toward the end of July, as well, where an alleged €40million (£37m) offer was thought to have been accepted.
Globo Esporte note that no official documents were signed by Everton and sent back to Brazil, though, and claim we are now taking a step back from the alleged agreement that would have seen Reinier move to Merseyside at the turn of the year.
The idea is that we will use the next few months before the winter market opens to further observe the Brazil U17 captain, as he has now been incorporated into Flamengo’s first-team.
Reinier, who has been compared with Brazilian icon Kaka, made his senior debut against Emelec at the end of July, and featured from the bench against Bahia the following week.
Toffees scouts will oversee the 6ft prospect’s development in the higher level of competition, and report back noting if he would be worth the €40million said to be on the table.
In the meantime, the Flamengo board wish to extend the teenager’s contract at the Gavea Stadium to 2024, as they feel his market value grow closer to his €70million (£64.7m) release clause if he performs well at the U17 World Cup, which takes place between October and November.