Despite some strong claims on Monday morning that Everton were edging ever closer to signing Yerry Mina from Barcelona, beating Lyon and Manchester United to his transfer (which was quickly dispelled by French media), the Ligue 1 club’s president has come out fighting.
Jean-Michel Aulas took to his Twitter account on Monday, quoting one of the articles, to explain that his side were still very much in the running to sign the Colombia international.
Explaining Mina was still ‘very interested’ in joining the Ligue 1 side, the president also revealed the club were all hoping he would sign with them soon in order to play Champions League football.
The latter is something the Toffees aren’t able to offer this season, finishing eighth in the 2017/18 Premier League campaign, and would have to rely on their greater financial pull to convince him otherwise.
Of course, there’s also the Manchester United angle, but it seems the Red Devils are focusing on other targets (Jérôme Boateng and Toby Alderweireld) for the time being, with Mina just a backup.
So, it’s not smooth sailing for Everton just yet.
