Everton News

Report: Everton still in pursuit of 22 y/o, club in advanced talks to sell €25m man

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According to Le10 Sport, LOSC Lille are in advanced talks to sell Gabriel Magalhães at the end of the season. The Ligue 1 club are experiencing financial difficulties and need to cash in on the valuable centre-back ahead of the summer. Lille are fourth in the table, one place and one point off a Champions League spot, so they could still be set for a financial windfall without having to sell their defender.

Everton are keen on Gabriel and may have to battle Leicester City, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain for the 22-year-old’s signature, but it’s unknown if they’re the club holding advanced talks regarding Gabriel. The Toffees were previously leading the race for the Brazilian, but the growing interest from other sides may be a spanner in the works.

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Gabriel joined Lille for £2.7m from Avai FC in 2017 and has gone on to make 52 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals. Before becoming a first-team regular, the central defender made four appearances on loan at Troyes one for Dinamo Zagreb and 10 for Dinamo Zagreb II.

The 22-year-old is now one of the first names on Lille’s teamsheet, having made 34 appearances across the board this season, so he’ll cost considerably more than £2.7m. Le10 Sport say Lille are requesting between €25m-€30m (£22.2m-£26.7m) for Gabriel and need to make a sale before June due to their financial situation, so they’re welcoming interest from suitors.

Everton have been on the hunt for a centre-back all season to accompany Michael Keane, Mason Holgate and Yerry Mina. Seamus Coleman has operated in the makeshift and Lewis Gibson is expected to join the first-team in 2020/21, but it seems the Toffees want a natural and experienced option to make an instant impact.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.