In the past few days, Manchester City’s chase for the Grêmio forward Everton seemed to get a lot hotter.
While claims from Italy said the Premier League side made a bid for the player, reliable reports from Brazil claimed that the club had indeed made an approach before the Copa America.
There are now more updates coming from good Brazilian sources. This time, it’s ESPN Brasil journalist Mauro Cézar Pereira who brings some information.
He claims Manchester City are still to make an official bid for the player, but have been watching him for a while now.
Club scouts reportedly saw Everton in a Copa do Brasil game against Juventude, and a Copa Libertadores match against Universidad Católica.
It’s claimed that most scouts who watched Everton were already satisfied with what they saw at club level, and were waiting to see him playing for the national team, where he would feature alongside other players from European football.
Mauro Cezar Pereira quotes a Manchester City scout who said “he doesn’t have anything else to do here” when scouting the player in Copa Libertadores, meaning that Everton needed a bigger challenge.
Regarding the €40m bid which has been reported, Mauro Cezar claims that if it was true, Grêmio would have accepted it by now. The Brazilian club want to take the opportunity so they don’t repeat the case of Luan, who had bids rejected in his prime, and then saw his form drop off.
Quoted by Globo Esporte this week, Everton claimed that he doesn’t want to listen to offers during the Copa America, and his agents will only speak to him after the tournament.
The same website said Manchester City showed they could pay €30m before the Copa America. So perhaps they will be back after the tournament.
