Everton reportedly made a late attempt to sign Espanyol left-back Aaron Martin, but failed to reach an agreement with the club.
According to Catalan outlet L’Esportiu, the Toffees offered €20m for the 20-year-old. Not a bad amount, since Espanyol at least had a meeting to discuss whether to sell the player or not.
President Chen Yansheng, sports director Òscar Perarnau, vice president Adolf Rousaud and manager Quique Sánchez Flores were all at this meeting. Although Flores gave his approval to the Everton transfer, knowing the money would be important to the club, the decision ended up being that the figures were too low.
Martin currently has a €30m release clause, and Espanyol believe that if they wait and sell him in the summer window, they can make a bigger amount, with figures getting close to that price.
The player had been linked to Manchester City and Manchester United lately, with claims from Spain saying €20m would be enough to take him.
But it seems the claims were wrong, at least by the stage Everton went in.
