Everton agree £17m fee but one big problem before exciting deal is done

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Everton could end up paying £17 million for Youssef Chermiti with the Sporting Lisbon striker still awaiting the green light to travel to the Premier League. 

With funds tight at Goodison Park, Everton were always unlikely to be bringing in a proven, elite-level centre-forward at the top of his game this summer.

The Toffees’ pursuit of Leeds United whizzkid Wilfried Gnonto and the Atalanta-bound El Bilal Toure provided an insight into the market Sean Dyche, Kevin Thelwell and co are operating in; Everton instead prioritising young, hungry and affordable attackers brimming with potential and FFP-pleasing re-sale value. 

So, enter Youssef Chermiti. 

At just 19, the Sporting Lisbon teenager is the same age as Gnonto. Like Toure, who Everton agreed a fee for before his £25 million move to Bergamo, Chermiti is a strong, physical presence at 6ft 4ins.

Dyche coaxed double-digit Premier League seasons out of Sam Vokes, Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood, and the hope will be that he can smooth out Chermiti’s raw edges while honing the talents of a raw but rambunctious centre-forward capable of easing the burden on an injury-prone Dominic Calvert-Lewin. 

Everton close in on Sporting Lisbon’s Youssef Chermiti

Fabrizio Romano reports that Everton have ‘verbally agreed’ to bring the sky-scraping teen to Goodison Park. 

Portuguese publication Record provide more information. They say that Everton will pay an initial £13 million, rising to £17 million with add-ons and bonuses included. Chermiti trained with the rest of the Sporting squad on Monday, however. And there are still a few details which must be completed before he is permitted to jet in for a medical. 

Sporting, Record add, want a 20 per cent sell-on clause in Chermiti’s contract. Everton, however, are reluctant to offer more than 10 per cent.

Either way, this is a big show of faith in a striker who only made his professional debut in January. Chermiti, while a reliable goalscorer for Portugal at youth level, has only found the net three times in 22 senior appearances in Sporting’s green-and-white shirt.