Everton midfielder Bernard has been offered to AS Roma as the Europa League side evaluate their options to replace Arsenal loanee Henrikh Mkhitaryan, according to LaRoma24.
Roma signed Mkhitaryan on a one-season deal in the final hours of the summer window last year, but the 31-year-old could be heading back to north London after the Gunners rejected two bids from the Serie A side.
It is claimed Arsenal are holding out for £18million to release their midfielder, but Roma have only gone as far as presenting a bid worth up to £10m, even though they are keen on striking a permanent agreement for the Armenia captain.
In case talks with Arsenal fall through, it appears Roma are keeping their options open as it is claimed in Italy that the Giallorossi have been offered several Brazilian players to consider, one of which is Bernard.
The report does not specify who is presenting the players to the Stadio Olimpico natives, but it would be fair to assume that an agent is behind the move given that several are of the same nationality and playing for clubs across Europe.
Roma are believed to be ‘carefully evaluating’ all of the players that have been put to them, however, which could mean Paulo Fonseca is open to the idea of poaching Bernard 24-months after he arrived at Goodison Park as a free agent.
It would be hard to imagine Carlo Ancelotti and Marcel Brands openly accepting a cut-price bid for our £18m-rated ace, though, as Bernard has contributed three goals and two assists over his 19 Premier League outings this term.
Ancelotti has also favoured the 27-year-old in the starting line-up for six of his 11 top-flight games at the helm, while calling on the 14-cap international from the bench on a further two occassions.
Data collected from Premier League games by Sofa Score this term shows Bernard having created three big chances to score, too, while playing 145 accurate passes in the final third, 20 key balls, making 23 successful dribbles (58%) and winning 58 ground duels (42%).
Would you sell Bernard in the summer?
Yes
No
His input, even from the bench, will surely be something Ancelotti will look to retain this summer, rather than allow Bernard to replace Arsenal’s £180,000-per-week Mkhitaryan in the Italian capital where they look set to qualify for the Europa League again.
In other Everton news, the club will be made to pay for our failed January swoop should Carlo Ancelotti return for a 41-cap man.