Premier League outfit Everton signed Yerry Mina from La Liga champions Barcelona – after failing to sign Clement Lenglet from Sevilla.
Everton had their sights set on Barcelona defender Yerry Mina since even before his impressive World Cup campaign with Colombia.
But director of football Marcel Brands has admitted to the Liverpool Echo that he wanted to sign another highly-rated young centre-back who will, somewhat ironically, now be spending the 2018/19 season at the Camp Nou.
Barca signed Clement Lenglet from Sevilla for almost £32 million after a protracted transfer saga back in July, according to Sky Sports – but not before Everton had expressed an interest in the ball-playing Frenchman.
“From the beginning we had Mina on our list and Lenglet on our list but he went to Barcelona quite early in the market so it was quite simple for us: go for Mina,” Brands told The Echo.
Everton eventually signed Mina on deadline day for pretty much the same fee that they would have had to pay to lure Lenglet away from Sevilla.
But it remains to be seen who will prove to be better value. Lenglet certainly has 18 months of impressive La Liga performances with Sevilla behind him while Mina struggled badly after arriving from Palmeiras in January, particularly in the infamous 5-4 defeat to Levante.
Mina, however, will now be hoping to form a solid partnership with Chelsea loanee Kurt Zouma in Everton’s new look, and much younger, backline.
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