‘Black smoke’ – Everton fail in latest attempt to sign a striker, player ‘will not leave’ club in January

Everton’s attempt to sign Beto from Udinese has failed, with the Italian side rejecting the Blues bid for the striker.

That’s according to TuttoMercatoWeb, who say there is ‘black smoke’ in the negotiations between the two clubs.

They report that Beto’s future, at least until the end of the season, will be at Udinese, as, according to their information, Everton’s €25m offer for the player has been rejected.

The Serie A side have decided that the striker ‘will not leave Friuli’ before tonight’s deadline and instead they will hold on to him until the summer when Napoli may try and get him.

That seemingly puts an end to Everton’s hopes of getting Beto today as they desperately scramble around the market to try and find a forward.

It is that which had led to the bid for Beto in the first place and now that has been rejected it remains to be seen where they go next.

They could always attempt to convince Udinese to change their minds with a bigger, improved bid but the sentiment from Italy is that it would be in vain.