Everton journalist Chris Smith has revealed that Director of Football Kevin Thelwell is now ‘at the table’ to potentially sign Armando Broja.
The Lowdown: McNeil signs
The Goodison Park outfit confirmed the signing of winger Dwight McNeil from Burnley on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee on Thursday afternoon.
He joins former Clarets teammate James Tarkowski and ex-Wolves full-back Ruben Vinagre on Merseyside, and it means that they can now focus on securing their targets in other areas of the pitch.
The Latest: Broja update
Taking to Twitter, Smith has revealed that Thelwell is now ‘at the table’ to sign Broja, but Chelsea are asking for a transfer fee as high as ‘£50m’ to sell the striker:
“If #Everton are to sign Armando Broja, it’s going to go down to the wire I think.
“They’re still very much at the table, but right now Chelsea are asking for huge sums – as high as £50m I’m told.
“They’ll only come down on that if they can sign another striker themselves.”
The Verdict: Patience needed
The Toffees need to be patient in terms of their pursuit of Broja this window, and not jump the gun to pay a heavily inflated price for the Albania international.
Having let Romelu Lukaku return to Inter Milan on loan, Chelsea could well be looking at bringing in a striker, which should theoretically then bring Broja’s price down.
[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/everton-news-7/” title=”Everton news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]
The Blues can afford to start the season with Dominic Calvert-Lewin up top, and McNeil now gives them another attacking option to help cover the loss of Richarlison to Tottenham Hotspur.
They should still go all in for Broja, but may be wise to wait until later on in the window in order to secure a sensible deal.
