Thomas Delaney: Everton could get second chance
Ronald Koeman and his Everton recruitment staff will probably be keeping a close eye on the Bundesliga table over the coming months, with the hope that Werder Bremen slip further down it and Thomas Delaney becomes available.
Currently third from bottom, if they stay where they are Werder would face a play-off against a second division side to see who plays in the Bundesliga next season. Should they drop into the bottom two places it’ll mean automatic relegation.
This could provide Everton will an ideal opportunity to sign Delaney. The Danish midfielder joined Werder Bremen from Copenhagen in the January window and he’s currently their best performing player according to Who Scored?, that’s in marks accumulated over all Bundesliga matches this season.
Wolfsburg agreed the deal with Copenhagen during the summer, and Everton then tried to hijack it. In January it was reported in Denmark that Everton continued to scout Delaney, despite Werder having agreed a deal to sign him.
Impressed with what they’d seen, Everton offered Werder £5m for Delaney. That would have allowed the German club to more than double their money, without Delaney ever actually playing for them.
Everton were knocked back and Delaney didn’t push for the move because Werder had put him on high wages, so the Premier League’s millions wouldn’t have been a vast improvement on what he was set to get anyway.
Relegation could change that, believe Danish newspaper BT, and Delaney would likely see his wages cut. In such circumstances an Everton approach would have a good chance of success, as playing in Germany’s second tier wouldn’t do much for the footballer’s international hopes either.
Werder may also be minded to raise funds if they lose their top flight status, and given Everton have already presented an offer for Delaney, the opportunity would be obvious.
A situation Everton will surely be keeping a close eye on.
