Report: Everton failed with deadline day approach for Thomas Vermaelen after lengthy talks

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Everton reportedly missed out on a deadline day deal for Thomas Vermaelen.

According to the Liverpool Echo, Everton failed with a deadline day bid for Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen, with the Catalan giants instead sending Marlon Santos to Nice.

The Toffees enjoyed a largely positive summer transfer window, as Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane, Davy Klaassen, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Nikola Vlasic, Sandro Ramirez and Wayne Rooney all arrived at Goodison Park, alongside young talents such as Nathangelo Markelo, Lewis Gibson, Dennis Adeniran, Josh Bowler and Boris Mathis.

However, Everton went into deadline day with Ronald Koeman keen to bring in two more signings; a left-sided centre back and another striker, given that Leighton Baines had little cover behind him and Romelu Lukaku was sold to Manchester United.

Unfortunately, Everton couldn’t land anybody to fill those two roles, with reports now emerging over the club’s failed pursuit of Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen.

The Liverpool Echo report that Everton underwent lengthy talks with Barcelona on deadline day in order to try and strike a loan-to-buy deal for Vermaelen, only for the deal to fall through in the final hours, as Barca changed their mind on letting the Belgian leave.

Instead, Barcelona decided to loan fellow defender Marlon Santos to Nice, meaning they needed to keep Vermaelen as cover for the likes of Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Javier Mascherano in the heart of their defence.

It was Koeman who handed Vermaelen his Ajax debut way back in 2004, and whilst he has suffered with injuries for many years, even stretching back to his time with Arsenal, Vermaelen was being linked up for a move back to the Premier League.

His ability to play as a left-sided centre back or even at left back if needed made him ideal for Everton, and the fact that Koeman knows him so well was an added bonus for the Toffees in their pursuit of him – but Barcelona blocked the move, and it remains to be seen whether Everton and Koeman return for the 31-year-old in January.