Everton may have been manipulated into paying €20m for Hull City star Jaden Philogene, with his agents’ using ‘a textbook play’ to ramp up interest in their client.
That’s at least according to Marca, who say they used Barcelona to get Everton to pay up for the highly rated winger.
The newspaper explains how Barcelona ended up involved in the drama around Philogene earlier this summer thanks to some agent tricks and exaggeration.
According to them it’s well-known Barcelona want a left winger and so they’ve been looking at various options, which also saw Philogene put on the table.
He was not being looked at by those in charge but rather presented to them by his agents, who also happen to represent players in their youth system.
Barcelona responded by saying that they’d only do a deal if he arrived on loan, for free, with a purchase option included at the end of the season.
They were then somewhat surprised to see reports of a deal being agreed for the Hull man, accompanied by photos of his agents at the Ciudad Deportiva.
The overriding suggestion was that he was signed, it was a done deal and he’d be making the surprise move to the Camp Nou this summer. They were even more surprised when Hull’s owner insisted the interest was real the next week and even more photos of the agents appeared to corroborate matters.
But the pieces have fallen into place for them this week as they’ve read reports of Everton and Hull reaching an agreement for the player valued at €20m.
They now understand it’s been ‘a textbook play’ from the player’s agents and Hull City, who have used Barcelona, who were never that interested, to get €20m from Everton for their player this summer.
It’s all been a major manipulation to seemingly lure in Everton, and perhaps even Ipswich Town, who now seem to be battling it out for Philogene’s signature.
