Lucas Torreira’s brilliant form for Sampdoria in Serie A means Everton simply must keep tracking his progress.
Eight months after Tuttomecatoweb reported that Everton sent scouts to watch Sampdoria’s fleet of highly-rated youngsters in action, the Premier League side surely must still have one eye on the emerging star that is Lucas Torreira.
The Uruguayan midfielder enjoyed a decent breakthrough season at Samp in 2016/17 but has really stepped on the gas in his second campaign with the Serie A side. Torreira has dominated the headlines on a number of occasions, rocketing home a stunning 30-yard free-kick against Chievo either side of inspiring eye-catching victories against AC Milan and Juventus.
And Sampdoria director Carlo Osti told Calciomercato after Torreira netted in the weekend’s 3-2 home win against the Serie A champions that ‘my phone rang continuously on Monday’ before adding that the 21-year-old would not be allowed to leave in the January window.
The story may be a different one in the summer, however. Because Torreira’s agent Pablo Bentancur told FC Inter News that there is a very affordable release clause in the midfielder’s contract.
“The idea is to continue until the end of the season with Sampdoria, it would be a shame to break such a beautiful toy,” Bentancur said, responding to his client’s recent links with Serie A pacesetters Inter Milan.
“We signed a new five-year contract a few months ago, inserting a €25 million (£22.5 million) clause that is not in question. The most important thing now, however, is not this, the guy must be serene and give it all on the pitch. With Samp the relations are great.”
If Torreira, likened to Marco Verratti (above) by respected scout Robert Druda, continues his rate of progress, there’s a real chance he might have outgrown Sampdoria by the end of this season.
And with Everton possessing more financial power than ever before, £22.5 million is well within their budget.
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