Premier League duo Everton and Fulham are both reportedly interested in signing Espanyol’s La Liga centre-back David Lopez but must pay big.
Espanyol have already lost their star man from last season, with top scorer Gerard Moreno sealing a return to Villarreal. So the Catalan club are understandably hoping to avoid bidding farewell to captain David Lopez, too.
Everton were linked with Lopez in January and Mundo Deportivo have claimed this week that the Toffees are still interested in signing the 28-year-old.
A midfielder by trade, the Barcelona-born enforcer made the majority of his 37 La Liga starts at centre-back last season and would be a valuable addition for an Everton side lacking depth and quality in defence.
But they are not the only Premier League side keen. Latest reports from AS claim that ambitious Premier League newcomers Fulham have made a formal offer for Lopez, only for it to be dismissed out of hand by Espanyol.
The La Liga outfit have now made it clear that Lopez, who previously had a spell at Napoli, will not be sold for a penny less than his £35 million release clause.
Worryingly for Everton, Mundo Deportivo had claimed that the Merseysiders were unwilling to pay that sort of fee – which could just leave the door open for Fulham.
The newly promoted Londoners have already smashed their transfer record to sign Jean Michel Seri from Nice and it will be interesting to see whether they do so again.
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