Four Premier League clubs, including Everton and Newcastle United, reportedly wanted to rescue Gregoire Defrel from Serie A giants Roma
Gregoire Defrel might have struggled at the Stadio Olimpico following his £20 million move to Roma in 2017 but that did not put off a number of Premier League suitors.
Corriere dello Sport claimed in July that Everton, Crystal Palace and West Ham were all interested in the out-of-favour Frenchman, who managed just seven Serie A starts in his debut season at Roma.
Gianluca Di Marzio then stated just a few days later that Newcastle United had joined the chase with Defrel expected to leave the Italian capital on loan.
Of the four aforementioned Premier League sides, only West Ham could argue that they have a striker in form – Marko Arnautovic. Everton’s lack of a top quality centre-forward was exposed in their 3-1 defeat to the Hammers on Sunday, both Oumar Niasse and Cenk Tosun spurning clear chances.
Newcastle are relying on the far from prolific Joselu and Salomon Rondon while the less said about Christian Benteke at Crystal Palace the better.
And, to make matters worse, Defrel has found form in terrific fashion over in Italy. He eventually joined Sampdoria on loan and has starred so far, scoring four times in just three games for the Genoa-based club and netting a stunning brace in the 5-0 away win at Frosinone this weekend.
Defrel has scored two more than anyone else in Italy’s top flight and is currently leading the Golden Boot chase ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain and Mauro Icardi.
What could have been for Newcastle, Everton or Crystal Palace?
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