Everton are continuing talks with Barcelona over the signing of striker Vitor Roque, with a €25m offer already rejected.
That’s according to journalist Florian Plettenberg and Sport, who report that Everton are in direct talks with Barcelona director of football Deco about the Brazilian but face competition from Bournemouth.
Reports over the last week have surprisingly put Everton in the race for Roque, who has been told he can leave Barcelona as he’s not in their or manager Hansi Flick’s plans.
It had been claimed in Spain yesterday that Barcelona were expecting a definitive offer from Everton, who had shown an interest in the past, at some point this week and it seems that has now happened.
According to Plettenberg Everton made a first offer of €25m plus €3m in add-ons for the striker. This was immediately rejected by Barcelona, who want €30-35m for the player.
Everton are undeterred, though, and ‘continuing to explore’ the possibility of a deal for Roque, holding ongoing talks with Deco about the potential switch.
Whether they could afford to match Barcelona’s demands is up for debate. They have funds after selling Amadou Onana but still need to be careful with their finances to avoid more PSR problems in future.
Sport add their own information to the mater, reporting that Everton have already asked about a loan or a full transfer.
They say that Roque has been told he can leave Camp Nou and his agent, André Cury, is in Europe to find a solution. He’s determined to secure a move to the Premier League and Everton and Bournemouth have already been in touch.
Barcelona want a permanent transfer rather than a loan and hope there can be developments this week as they want the money.
Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia have also put a big offer on the table, but the striker isn’t interested in that, and the focus is on the Premier League.
Bournemouth could have an advantage as they’ve just done a deal with Barcelona for Julián Araujo, so the relationship is there but, conversely, Everton have a ‘very good relationship’ with the player’s entourage to help their efforts.
