Everton have made a €30m offer for Lille defender Gabriel Magalhães with the player set to decide his future ‘in the coming days’.
The Blues face competition from Manchester United and Napoli for his signature, with both sides joining them in moving for the defender.
The Brazilian has been heavily linked with a move to Goodison Park for several months, with Carlo Ancelotti keen to add a new centre back to his squad.
The Blues appeared to have a deal wrapped up earlier this year, agreeing on a transfer fee with Lille and a contract with the player, who also underwent a medical.
However, that was shortly before the Coronavirus outbreak, after which the Blues pulled back on a deal and tried to renegotiate.
That saw Napoli take the lead for his services, with it looking likely Gabriel would end up in Italy next season.
However, reports last night indicated talks with the Serie A side were not progressing as well as expected, and Everton were now at the front of the queue.
La Voix Du Nord say otherwise today and report that there is, in fact, a three-way race for Gabriel, with Everton, Manchester United and Napoli all tabling €30m bids, plus bonuses.
They say a decision is set to be made on his future ‘in the coming days’ with the defender left to choose where he will go.
La Voix think that Napoli have a ‘head start’ because they have Europa League football, although Manchester United haven’t said their ‘last word’ given they can offer Champions League football.
Everton can offer neither of those things, but the fact that they are even considered contenders is a significant difference from reports over the last few weeks.
Indeed, they may take the talk of Manchester United with a pinch of salt, having seen phantom bids coming from Old Trafford for Yerry Mina when they were trying to sign him from Barcelona – which were actually his agent looking to push things along.
It seems likely that could be the case with Gabriel too, and in reality, it is likely between Everton and Napoli at present, which has always been the case.
