Report: Everton, Stoke City and West Brom eyeing Bas Dost

In the midst of a ridiculous scoring streak for Sporting Lisbon, no wonder Everton, Stoke City and West Brom are interested in signing Bas Dost.

Dost

The fact that only Lionel Messi in Europe’s major leagues can better Bas Dost’s goal tally suggests that the 6ft 5ins beanpole isn’t having a bad season.

The Dutchman has always been a natural born goalscorer, coming alive in the six yard box and thriving off scrappy tap-ins and close range headers. Yet, with a scarcely believable 31 goals in 28 league games in his debut season at Sporting Lisbon, it’s fair to say Dost is no longer viewed as merely an ungainly goal-hanger.

A scoring streak like this doesn’t go under the radar and Portuguese publication Correio da Manha claims that Everton, West Brom and Stoke City are all rubbing their hands together at the prospect of signing one of Europe’s most prolific marksmen.

The fact he has a £50 million release clause in his contract, however, jumps off the page as a potential problem. As of right now, the club-record transfers of Everton, Stoke and West Brom stand at £28m, £18m and £13m.

Digging in their clause

Yet, it’s common practice for Portuguese clubs to insert such ambitious buyout clauses into a player’s contract as soon as he signs. Though it certainly serves to ramp up his value, players are often sold for a lot less.

According to the Mirror, powerful midfielder William Carvalho has a clause of around £50 million in his Sporting contract. Yet, he’s been linked with a summer move to West Brom for half that amount.

Therefore, this should not prevent the Premier League trio from making Dost their top transfer target.