£60m Arsenal bid tipped to be accepted, with outstanding Everton raid possible THIS window
Arsenal can succeed with a damaging Everton raid this window, with a report claiming Everton would be tempted to cash in if receiving a £60m bid for a confirmed Gunners target.
TEAMtalk exclusively revealed on January 4 that Arsenal had approached Everton over the signing of midfielder Amadou Onana.
Mikel Arteta’s side do intend to strengthen this month and many might expect a new addition to come at centre-forward.
However, The Telegraph reported Arteta feels his side is reasonably well balanced when given a clean bill of health. Fabrizio Romano confirmed Gabriel Jesus has returned to full training on Thursday after overcoming a minor knee issue,
Instead, it’s central midfield where any new transfer is likely to be made. Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz is Arteta’s dream target, though with a whopping £100m valuation, the Brazilian is unattainable.
What’s more, Villa are very much a club on the rise and have zero intention of selling to a potential title rival mid-season.
Instead, Belgium international Onana is wanted and per the i newspaper, Everton could be willing to cash in THIS month.
Explaining what will make the Toffees say yes, the i revealed a bid of around £60m ‘could yet tempt them’.
Everton paid £33m to sign the midfield destroyer from French side Lille 18 months ago. The club aren’t required to sell to balance their books despite their well-documented financial troubles, but the opportunity to almost double their money reportedly appeals.
The £60m valuation Everton have placed on Onana reportedly stems from seeing fellow Belgian Romeo Lavia join Chelsea for £58m last summer.
Lavia is far less established than Onana, though is two-and-a-half years younger.
Onana favours Arsenal over Chelsea
Manchester United and Chelsea have also showed interest in 22-year-old Onana. However, TEAMtalk understands the midfielder would prefer to join Arsenal rather than the Blues.
Man Utd, meanwhile, simply don’t have the funding available this month. That’s a factor which has led to speculation the Red Devils could include a high profile makeweight to significantly lower the transfer’s cost.
Budget is also notoriously tight for Arsenal, though the i suggest a deal could be financed through player sales.
As such, a summer move looks the likeliest outcome if Onana is to leave Everton in 2024. However, there does appear to be an opportunity right here and now if the Gunners can raise enough capital.
Onana’s potential arrival at the Emirates would lighten the load on Declan Rice in the engine room. It’d also free up the Gunners to eventually move on from ageing stars such as Thomas Partey, Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny.
