Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton have reportedly failed to convince Serie A surprise packages Hellas Verona to sell Destiny Udogie to the Premier League outfit.
Everton failed with a multi-million bid for the Hellas Verona defender Destiny Udogie, according to Gianluca Di Marzio, with the youngster instead committing his long-term future to the Serie A outfit.
Marcel Brands might not have won over every single Toffees fan but the director of football is undoubtedly one of the best in the business when it comes to unearthing diamonds in the rough.
After all, it’s fair to say Hirving Lozano, Dries Mertens, Kevin Strootman, Sergio Romero and co were hardly household names before they were plucked from the undergrowth by Brands over in Holland.
And the brilliantly named Destiny Udogie was always likely to be one-for-the-future rather than a player capable of walking straight into Carlo Ancelotti’s starting XI. The fresh-faced Italian is only just getting started in the game and he is yet to establish himself among the grizzled pros at Hellas Verona.
Despite his lack of first-team minutes, however, Udogie is already attracting admiring glances from all over Europe.
Everton have made a seven-figure bid, as have French giants Monaco, but it seems the Italian has no plans to leave his homeland just yet. Instead, Udogie has signed a new long-term contract which is due to keep him in Verona until 2022.
Hellas are currently sitting ninth in the Serie A table, no mean feet for a side who were promoted in May, and Udogie faces a challenge if he wants to establish himself in an in-form team.
With Leighton Baines’s long Everton career set to come to an end in the summer, there will soon be a place for a young pretender to challenge Lucas Digne for a first-team role. Udogie, however, will not be filling that void.
Goodison Park is not his Destiny.
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