Everton will not consider any swap deals for left back Lucas Digne as he closes in on a move to Aston Villa, meaning Anwar El Ghazi won’t be heading the other way.
That’s according to Sky Sports, who claim that Everton have no interest in letting Digne go in exchange for another player.
What Everton want is straight cash, most likely because they need to offset cash from the signings of Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko.
TalkSPORT claim that Digne has already agreed personal terms with Aston Villa and he could join this week.
The fee claimed there is £25million, with no players going in the other direction.
That’s despite Fabrizio Romano reporting that Villa winger Anwar El Ghazi had been discussed in talks with Everton.
El Ghazi to Everton seemingly came out of nowhere, with prior speculation linking him to West Ham United instead.
El Ghazi Is struggling for playing time at the moment. The Dutch winger has played just 44 minutes of first-team football since Steven Gerrard’s arrival.
Villa likely would have let El Ghazi go to Everton without much concern, but that option appears to be off the table.
El Ghazi seems like a strange target for Everton anyway, and hardly a signing that would have convinced Toffees fans of Rafael Benitez’s plans moving forward.
If he can’t get in Villa’s team, is he really going to take Everton forward?
Digne leaving is difficult enough for some Everton fans, and swapping him in any way for El Ghazi could have only made things worse.
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