Everton are hoping to land Kevin Gameiro, who appears to have no future at La Liga giants Atletico after the return of Diego Costa.
If Atletico Madrid wanted to dampen speculation about Kevin Gameiro’s future, leaving him out of their squad to face Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday night was not the best way to go about it.
The Frenchman made only his second appearance of an injury-hit season off the bench against Sevilla at the weekend but was nowhere to be seen as the Premier League champions sealed a hugely impressive 2-1 win at the Wanda Metropolitano thanks to a 94th minute Michy Batshuayi winner.
And Spanish daily Sport claims that it is this lack of game time that has Gameiro considering his future with Los Colchoneros. The report adds that the 30-year-old’s omission is an indication of how little faith Diego Simeone has in the former Sevilla goal-machine – and states that a subsequent move to Everton is now a ‘real possibility’.
As such, Atleti may be willing to loan Gameiro out in January or listen to offers of around £20 million. And this is music to the ears of an Everton side whose lack of a prolific goalscorer is well established after they failed to replace Romelu Lukaku in the summer.
Gameiro has not quite lived up to expectations at Atleti, scoring just 12 goals in 21 La Liga starts last season, but was one of La Liga’s most fearsome hitmen during his time with Sevilla.
A ruthless finisher renowned for his perfectly timed runs in behind high lines, Gameiro would give Everton some much needed speed and cutting edge up top.
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