Everton tried and failed to sign La Liga and Spain centre-back Mario Hermoso, who has now swapped Espanyol for Atletico Madrid.
Mario Hermoso had only been playing La Liga football five months when Everton tried to sign him in early 2018.
According to Sport, the Toffees made a bid of £7 million on the final day of the January transfer window, yet Espanyol rejected it out of hand.
At that point, Hermoso was just starting to establish himself at the Catalan club, although Everton obviously saw something special in a young, ball-playing defender who failed to make the grade at Spanish giants Real Madrid as a teenager.
A year-and-a-half on, Marco Silva must be wishing that Everton had managed to get a deal over the line for Hermoso during Sam Allardyce’s ill-fated spell at Goodison Park.
Because the 24-year-old has gone from strength to strength since that £7 million offer was batted away. Hermoso is now Sergio Ramos’ regular partner for the Spanish national team, stepping into the void left by Gerard Pique’s retirement after the 2018 World Cup.
And it’s a sign of how far he’s come in such a short period of time that, on Thursday, Atletico Madrid announced that they had signed Hermoso for £26 million, as reported by Goal.
After returning to the Spanish capital to join his former club’s near neighbours, Hermoso will be tasked with replacing one of the best defenders of the last decade – the legendary Diego Godin.
Everton, meanwhile, are scrambling around for a new defender with Phil Jagielka gone and Kurt Zouma back at Chelsea.
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