After a couple of days of short paragraphs and irrelevant notes, the Portuguese press finally has something on Everton’s offer for Rui Vitória today.
It’s O Jogo who comes up with a full page story, saying the Toffees made an actual bid to take the Benfica manager, but couldn’t get a positive answer.
The newspaper claimed that after sacking Ronald Koeman, the Merseyside club tried Marco Silva, who rejected the chance, making Rui Vitória the second option on the list.
Everton offered Benfica around €6m to release the manager. Club president Luis Filipe Vieira even considered it, but ended up turning it down, afraid that a managerial change would have a negative impact at this stage of the season.
Benfica would now be demanding his release clause, just like they often do with their players. In Vitória’s case, the amount is €15m.
The denial made Everton turn their attention to another Portuguese manager, Paulo Fonseca, according to the claims. And O Jogo mentions the rumours which have been linking Sam Allardyce to the club as well.
But it’s also said that Rui Vitória became aware of the offer, and his name is still not scratched from the Toffees’ list. There’s still a chance they could go back and pay his release clause.
Given the season Benfica are having, there’s already been fans of the Lisbon club encouraging a move… for free.
