Former Everton manager Sam Allardyce has revealed to talkSPORT that the Toffees were chasing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before the striker joined Arsenal.
Allardyce was speaking on talkSPORT’s breakfast show about who Everton were targeting during his time in charge, and revealed that Aubameyang was near the top of the list as the striker was desperate to move to the Premier League.
Ultimately the Toffees could not complete a deal, something that the former West Ham and Bolton manager put down to the club’s spending prior to his arrival.
If Everton had any hopes of beating the Gunners to the punch, the Merseyside outfit would have been forced to spend excessively again in the same season Gylfi Sigurdsson arrived from Swansea for £45million.
When the Gabon international did complete his exit from the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund received £56million as Arsenal smashed their transfer record.
Speaking on the potential deal, Allardyce told talkSPORT: “Aubameyang was desperate to come to the Premier League, and we didn’t really know if it was definitely a yes [to Everton] or not – but it was probably not.
“Whether that could have happened or not, we never got that far.
“It was always going to be too much money for January, because of what the club spent previous to me arriving.”