Every day, the potential deal taking Everton’s Bernard to AS Roma edges in the wrong direction.
Corriere dello Sport provide an update on Thursday, explaining that Tiago Pinto, the Italian club’s general director, ‘is trying to bring Stephan El Shaarawy back to the capital’.
That’s his primary target to reinforce Roma’s attack and gift Paulo Fonseca with more option, but there are still ways this could mess up, thus opening the door for a Bernard move.
One of those is ‘the severance pay’ El Shaarawy wants, which Shanghai Shenhua ‘have no intention of paying for the moment to free him’.
If that doesn’t unlock itself, ‘the Giallorossi club would strongly turn on Bernard’, who is ‘still followed by Fonseca and Pinto’, alongside FC Porto’s Ótavio.
So, if you’re one of the Everton fans wishing for this to go through, which should in turn make Robin Olsen a permanent member of the Goodison Park family, you’ll have to cross your fingers for Shanghai Shenhua standing their ground and scuppering El Shaarawy’s exit.
