Ruben Vinagre arrived in Liverpool on Tuesday to complete his move to Everton.
It’s been something of a whirlwind deal for the Merseyside club, and offers a return to English football for the 23-year-old, who was at Wolves from 2017 to 2022.
The player was on loan at Sporting last season, and the Lisbon club had a €10m buying option, which they used. With this fresh loan to Everton, it had been expected the Toffees would have an option of a similar amount, however, the Portuguese press are saying that isn’t correct.
All of A Bola, Record and O Jogo report that Everton have agreed an option worth €20m, double what Sporting paid this summer. That’s said to be partly because after his permanent move to Sporting, Wolves kept a percentage of a future sale.
The reports state the Portuguese side only have 50% of Vinagre’s rights, and what they mean by that is the right to the transfer fee. Given it’s just an option, Everton obviously won’t have to pay the €20m if they decide they don’t want to keep the player.
There are some suggestions Sporting are attempting to revalue Vinagre, so if the Toffees don’t use their option he’ll still have the €20m figure associated with him, rather than €10m.
O Jogo also explain Sporting have been trying to find Vinagre a new club for a while, yes, despite them only recently signing him permanently.
It’s said that when Everton asked about Matheus Nunes, Vinagre was pushed forward instead.