Everton have stepped up the Merseyside club’s efforts to add depth to Carlo Ancelotti’s defence approaching Deadline Day, but the Blues’ rumoured bid highlights a summer wasted by Marcel Brands.
What’s the word?
According to The Telegraph, Everton have lodged a £26million bid for Norwich City defender Ben Godfrey having identified the Canaries ace as an alternative to Chelsea’s Fikayo Tomori.
It is said that Tomori had been considered as the Toffees’ primary target in the club’s search for a new centre-half, but negotiations with Frank Lampard’s side have prolonged due to the doubt surrounding Antonio Rudiger’s future at Stamford Bridge.
The lack of clarity has left both the Goodison Park natives and Tomori in the lurch, and seen Brands reach out to Norwich with a formal offer worth an initial £20m in an attempt to bring Godfrey back to the Premier League.
Godfrey started all 30 of his top-flight outings during the 2019/20 season but failed to help prevent Norwich from suffering an immediate return to the Championship, where the England U21 international has played each available minute in the new campaign to date.
With the transfer window for domestic deals running until October 16, it is suggested Everton may wait on Chelsea’s decision before finalising their swoop for Godfrey in the hopes that a better guarantee of starting games will be enough to acquire Tomori on loan.
But Brands will have to improve Everton’s offer for Godfrey should the Toffees persist with a move for the Canaries ace after The Pink Un reported Norwich have rejected the Blues’ initial offer and will hold firm on their valuation.
Wasted investment?
Everton Director of Football, Brands, and manager, Ancelotti, will have long been aware that a new centre-half had to have to been a priority acquisition this summer, having persisted with Mason Holgate, Yerry Mina and Michael Keane as the three senior figures last term before Jarrad Branthwaite’s late breakthrough.
A deal for Gabriel Magalhaes was thought to have been secured with LOSC Lille, only for the coronavirus outbreak to alter Everton’s finances, while a pre-season injury for Holgate that could sideline the 23-year-old for longer than first feared only hammered home the need for greater depth even more.
Now, Brands appears to be rushing to find a late solution in Godfrey having seemingly been unable to land his and Ancelotti’s top-targets in deals befitting of the Blues’ accounts, and that could signal the Norwich ace becoming a wasted investment signed as the only suitable option left on the table.
Godfrey has the potential to challenge the established ranks at Goodison Park should a deal occur – per SofaScore, he won 3.5 duels and recorded 48.6 accurate passes per Premier League game with a 88% success rate last season – but only in displacing one of Keane, Mina or Holgate will the 22-year-old’s move ever look successful.
AND in other news, a long-time Everton star has emerged as a transfer option for a Premier League competitor.