Everton ‘withdrew’ their bid for Everton Soares after he made ‘contact’ with Carlo Ancelotti, said Gremio president Romildo Bolzan Jr in an interview with Si Gonfia la Rete via Arena Napoli. The 24-year-old has been on Everton’s radar this season after impressing at Gremio, but Bonzan Jr has revealed that the Toffees are yet to make an official approach.
He said: “There had been some contacts, mainly with the player. Ancelotti himself had contacted him. But then Everton withdrew even before making a real offer. From what I was told, it was because of some financial playtime issues at that stage. We’ll see if they try to resume the discussion in the future.”
“Everton has an 80 million euro termination clause. Clearly we know that it is a very high rating and we do not intend to clip the boy’s wings, therefore we are willing to negotiate if he expresses his will to move to that particular club.” Everton Soares joined Gremio from Fortaleza in 2013 and has gone on to make 179 appearances across the board, having a hand in 64 goals.
Everton could have a void for another wide-man this summer as Theo Walcott could be sold after underwhelming this season while Bernard has been offered to AS Roma. The Toffees have been linked with a move for Jesse Lingard, Cengiz Under and Wilfried Zaha among others, but the rumours connecting them with Everton Soares aren’t going away.
The Brazilian international made 30 Serie A appearances for Gremio in 2019, scoring 11 goals and making five assists, so he’d be a good addition to the Toffees. Everton will hope to whittle down the asking price from €80m (£70.19m).
BERNARD HAS NOT BEEN OFFERED TO ROMA. Get your facts right. Bernard himself has stated on Twitter that this rumour is a lie! He did so last week! So why are you feeding a rumour that DOESN’T EXIST.