The summer transfer window proved to be a busy one for Everton as they brought in no fewer than seven new players to Goodison Park.
Director of Football Marcel Brands continued his work from last summer, moving on deadwood and reshaping the squad for Marco Silva with younger players for the future.
It was a venture he enjoyed plenty of success in, signing up younger talent such as Jean-Phillipe Gbamin, Moise Kean and Alex Iwobi to bolster Everton’s ranks.
One player it seems they missed out on, though, was Dani Olmo, with Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti reporting the Blues saw a bid turned away by Dinamo Moscow.
The newspaper says Everton made a €28m bid for Olmo, who was one of the stars of Spain’s success at the U21 European Championships this summer, scoring in the final win over Germany.
However, the bid was rejected outright, with Dinamo feeling neither the financials nor the timing worked out for them. Basically, it’s all to do with their attempts to get into the Champions League group stages.
Olmo is Dinamo’s best player, so they’re relying on him to help them qualify, and if they do so, it nets them €15m in prize money.
Sportske Novosti say it, therefore, makes sense for them to keep Olmo, him help them get that €15m and then sell him for €25m than just sell for €30m beforehand.
Furthermore, if they are a Champions League team and he helps them get there, it increases his price for any interested parties.
Dinamo are said to not ‘regret’ rejecting the offers as all of their essential games are after the English transfer window closes, so selling Olmo simply didn’t suit them.
