Everton may have been handed a boost in their potential move for Atlético Madrid defender Santiago Arias.
Yesterday we covered a report that the Blues were keen on the right-back, with Director of Football Marcel Brands thought to be a big fan after signing him for PSV Eindhoven.
Whether Atlético would be open to a sale wasn’t mentioned, but Marca have now provided information on that front.
They report that a ‘farewell is on the horizon’ for Arias at the Spanish club, with him having failed to impress Diego Simeone.
The newspaper explain that Arias was close to an exit last summer after struggling in his first season at the club but had a conversation with Simeone and asked for a second chance.
That was granted to him, but he has struggled to nail down a regular spot since, with Kieran Trippier and Sime Vrsaljko both ahead of him in the pecking order and impressing.
This year he’s made just 11 appearances in the league, totalling 869 minutes of football and Atlético had even considered selling him in January as they looked to free up wages to fund a move for Edinson Cavani.
Ultimately that never happened but it’s made clear he is likely to be put on the transfer list come the summer, news that will be welcomed by Everton.
It’s been well established they’re on the hunt for a new right-back this summer and Arias is seemingly one they think highly of having been linked with him in the past.
The worry would have been that Atlético weren’t interested in a sale, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, meaning there may be a window of opportunity for Everton to exploit to their advantage.
