Chief scout says Barcelona lucky defender isn’t at Everton, Koeman very keen on South American

 

The chief scout of Ajax Tonny Bruins has revealed Davinson Sanchez could be playing for Everton if it wasn’t for work permit issues. The young Ajax defender has also caught the attention of Barcelona, who have been impressed with his performances for the Dutch side this season.

Mundo Deportivo have published comments (although it doesn’t say who Bruins was speaking to), from the Ajax scout who said Barcelona are lucky they can still attempt to land Sanchez because he could have already been an Everton player. Bruins confirmed Everton manager Ronald Koeman has contacted him a number of times with regards to the 20-year-old, but a transfer isn’t possible at this stage because of the problems with a work permit.

“Barca is lucky because, otherwise, Davinson Sanchez would already playing at Everton on the orders of Ronald Koeman, who is excited about the guy as confirmed by me personally on several occasions. He has not yet made the sufficient games to meet the requirements for a club in the Premier League. If not for that, the club would have already lost him,” said the Ajax scout.

Sanchez joined Ajax in the last window, and after a brief spell with the reserves he made the breakthrough into the senior team. The youngster has already made 11 appearances for the Ajax first team, and was part of Colombia’s Olympic team this summer.

New work permit regulations aren’t based solely on games, but a points system which places a lot of weight on the transfer fee paid, and the wages given to the player, which may make these claims a little less watertight.