Former Croatia international Sime Vrsaljko has revealed how he was once close to joining Everton during his career.
24 Sata cover comments from the 33-year-old today after he made an appearance in court for the trial of the Mamic brothers, during which Everton were name-checked.
The Mamic brothers have been accused of bribery, corruption and various other crimes during their time in charge of Dinamo Zagreb.
Zdravko Mamic, Croatian football’s Mr Big and considered the most powerful figure in football in the country, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison in 2018 for corruption after siphoning off millions of Euros in transfer fees when he was an executive at Dinamo Zagreb. He was also vice-president of the Croatian Football Federation.
Vrsaljko has firsthand experience with him, having joined Dinamo Zagreb as a youngster before working his way up the youth ranks and to the first team.
He went on to make 96 appearances for the club before joining Geno in 2013 and then having spells with Sassuolo, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Olympiacos before retiring in 2023.
That meant he was asked about his relationship with Mamic in this trial, during which he revealed Everton wanted him before the move to Italy.
“Mario told me that Genoa and Everton were interested in me,” he said.
“I liked Genoa’s offer, and I told him that I wanted to go there. We went to Italy together. There were negotiations about a transfer, but I did not participate in it. I signed the offered contract and then terminated my cooperation with Mario.
“I think the transfer was €4.5m, plus some bonuses that I cannot say anything more precisely about.”
