According to 90 Min, Everton have been ‘offered the chance to sign’ Philippe Coutinho this summer. The 27-year-old is out of favour at Barcelona and could be on the move in the coming months, but the Catalan giants won’t sell Coutinho for less than £100m.
Everton appear to be on the hunt for an attacking-midfielder type as Gylfi Sigurdsson could be offloaded at the end of the season. The 30-year-old has struggled for form under Carlo Ancelotti and hasn’t warranted his £100k-per-week/£5.2m-a-year contract.
Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard, Borussia Dortmund’s Mario Gotze, RB Leipzig’s Jonathan David and Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez are believed to be on the Toffees’ radar, but it remains to be seen who they’ll bring in.
Coutinho continues being mentioned as a potential transfer target, but Vital Everton have previously explained why it’s unlikely the Brazilian international will be on his way to Goodison Park.
His £100m asking price is more than twice of Everton’s club-record signing Sigurdsson (£45m from Swansea City in 2017) while his £240k-per-week/£12.48m-a-year deal is twice more than the Blues’ highest-earner (Bernard on £120k-per-week/£6.24m-a-year), so it’s hard to see Marcel Brands making a move.
Everton’s transfer policy under the Dutchman has been to replace ageing players with young equivalents, so this story continues to not make sense.