A few days ago Portuguese newspaper Record reported a €45m English offer had arrived at Benfica for Raul Jimenez, and there were two potential destinations put forward.
Liverpool and West Ham have been the English clubs most linked to Jimenez in recent years, and Record suggested the offer could be from either of them.
On Wednesday it’s stated that it’s Everton who have made an offer. Although it’s not outright said they went all the way to €45m, that’\s clearly the suggestion.
Such an offer should be enough for Benfica to gift wrap Jimenez and drive him to Everton, but Record say it’s not enough. The Portuguese club received a €50m offer from China for Jimenez in January, and they want a club to match that.
It’s farcical, Jimenez isn’t even a nailed on starter for Benfica, he doesn’t have an amazing scoring record, and he certainly isn’t worth €50m.
Everton interest doesn’t make a great deal of sense, especially at the price quoted, and it would still be something of a gamble at around half of that.
This really is a curious story, and despite Record saying there’s been an official offer from Everton, the rest is hard to even half believe.