It’s not a normal day in the Sport Witness office if we’re not covering Allan’s proposed move to Everton in some form or other.
The Napoli midfielder has been on the verge of completing his move to Goodison Park for the best part of this month, with negotiations between the two clubs over an asking price yet to meet a satisfactory conclusion.
The player, for his part, has made it clear he wants the switch and seemingly already has a deal in place for when the two clubs reach an agreement.
Finding that understanding has been the problem, though, and that is very much the tone presented by the Italian media today.
Corriere Dello Sport cover the situation and explain that Allan is waiting for his opportunity to leave and ‘Ancelotti is waiting for him’ on Merseyside.
Everton have definitively decided they want him and Napoli are convinced that he will be ending his five-year stay with the club
This is backed up by Il Mattino, who say Allan ‘said yes’ to the Blues ‘in full lockdown’ and the fact he will move to the club has been ‘known for months now’.
Indeed, it’s stated that the move is a ‘downward race like boulders’ and he is on ‘standby’ waiting for it to happen.
The problem is the asking price. Corriere state that Everton only want the midfielder ‘on their terms’.
Napoli chief Aurelio De Laurentiis originally asked for €40m when he held his first contacts with Everton but has brought that down to €35m in total.
That would be made up of €30m in cash and €5m in bonuses; a price Everton need to ‘approach (but seriously)’, suggesting that they’ve so far offered those bonuses in a form that Napoli don’t consider as reasonable at present.
That would tally with earlier reports that stated the Italian side had made it clear the bonuses needed to be achievable to ensure they got a full price at some point.
That’s something Everton will need to work out, with the player seemingly waiting for them to cough up the money and get this long-running deal over the line.
