Danish striker Martin Braithwaite is determined to move to the Premier League this summer, with Everton, Leicester City and Southampton all in the mix.
That’s according to Estadio Deportivo, who say the player is now free to choose a new team after his shock decision to buy himself out of his contract at Espanyol on Monday.
Reports yesterday explained that Braithwaite had made the shock decision to pay €600,000 to get himself out of his contract with Espanyol on Monday, leaving him free to negotiate with clubs as a free agent.
That’s left the Spanish side in turmoil as they’ve not only lost a key player but also someone who was set to have a $15m release clause in his contract when a new deal kicked in this week.
Instead, they’ve been left with a relative pittance, at least by modern football standards. Estadio pick up on the situation today and insist that to say Braithwaite has ‘hurt’ Espanyol would be an understatement, particularly given their financial situation is not the healthiest.
The fact is, though, he’s broken his contract and is now a free agent, looking around the market and assessing his options.
The newspaper argues he would not have done this if he wasn’t sure his future was already solved, and all signs currently point to the Premier League.
Reports in England have made it clear that Everton are leading the potential race for him, although Leicester and Southampton have also been credited with an interest back in his native Denmark.
Estadio argue that the striker is showing a ‘determination’ to move to England and the fact Everton are interested ‘is not a surprise’ given they were the second lowest scorers in the Premier League last season.
They make no mention of Leicester or Southampton but do say there could be competition in Spain, with Valencia and Mallorca both options as they need forwards too.
That’s good for Braithwaite, who seems likely to have plenty of offers on the table to justify his ‘horrendous’ departure from Espanyol yesterday.
