Everton could announce the signing of new £10.5 million striker Youssef Chermiti today after beating Premier League rivals Wolves and Bournemouth to the Sporting Lisbon starlet.
According to Portuguese publication A Bola, 19-year-old Youssef Chermiti packed his bags and boarded a flight to Liverpool on Monday.
He will undergo medical tests, sign a five-year contract, and you can maybe expect to see photos of Everton’s new centre-forward arm in arm with Sean Dyche before the clock strikes midnight; The Toffees finally adding some much-needed depth to a frontline thinner than the plot of a Netflix slasher.
Everton set to seal Youssef Chermiti deal
A Bola, meanwhile, insist that the size of Chermiti’s price-tag is not quite as substantial as some have suggested.
Everton, they say, will pay £10.5 million, rising to £13 million. That is some £4 million less than other publications have reported. Either way, given that Chermiti only made his Primeira Liga debut in January – and has just three goals in 22 Sporting Lisbon appearances – investing an eight-figure sum on an unproven teenage centre-forward is still a big risk, especially considering Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injury issues and Neal Maupay’s unsuitability.
There appears a relatively high chance that Chermiti could find himself carrying Everton’s survival hopes on his still-broadening shoulders in 2023/24.
What Chermiti lacks in experience, however, he could make up for in potential. None other than Max Allegri admitted to being surprised by the teenager’s ability after a Europa League meeting between Sporting and Juventus last season, while a tally of three goals in four games for the Portugal U19s offers an intriguing insight into his penalty-area talents.
“(Chermiti) is someone who would grow,” former Sporting midfielder Litos tells Radio Renascenca, backing that Everton move after Los Leoes brought in Viktor Gyokeres from Coventry City.
“But we also see at this point, with the signing of Gyokeres and the existence of Paulinho, that it will be more difficult to have as many opportunities as he would like. At this point, for the player himself, I believe (moving to Everton) is a good option.”
According to the Daily Mail, Wolves and Bournemouth are also big fans of Chermiti.
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