Everton seemingly won’t be signing ex-Liverpool attacker Luis Alberto.
With Everton turning in some frustrating performances under Carlo Ancelotti, the Toffees are likely to be active in the summer transfer window.
The Toffees were quiet in January, meaning big signings may well arrive at the end of the season – whenever that may be, given the COVID-19 crisis.
One of the more recent links was to Lazio playmaker Luis Alberto, with Corriere Della Sera claiming that Ancelotti would love to bring the Spaniard to Goodison Park.
Ancelotti no doubt knows the Lazio star from Italian football, and he has been a creative phenomenon; he’s posted 14 assists this season, and racked up 18 in the 2017-18 campaign.
Calciomercato suggested that Lazio would want a staggering €80million (£73million) for Alberto, but Sky Italia now believe the playmaker will be signing a new deal with Lazio instead of moving on.
Everton may be disappointed, but there’s certainly reason for city rivals Liverpool to be gutted too, given the huge money they’ll miss out on.
Liverpool signed Alberto from Sevilla in 2013, but he played just 12 times before the Reds offloaded him to Lazio in 2016 – when they inserted a very important clause.
As noted by the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool managed to insert a huge 30% sell-on clause into the deal, meaning if Everton had shattered their record to sign Alberto for £73million – which seemed unlikely – Liverpool would have received around £22million.
That could have provided Jurgen Klopp with important funds for the transfer market, and with Alberto committing his future to Lazio until 2025, it seems Liverpool won’t be earning big money from their clause.
As he approaches his 30’s, the suitors may dwindle and the price tag may decrease, so whilst Everton may have missed out, Liverpool may not be happy either.
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