Everton are reportedly eyeing a move for Wilfried Zaha, but a deal may perhaps push Ademola Lookman closer to the exit.
After an incredible start to his Toffees career, Lookman appears to have endured an extremely difficult time on Merseyside, struggling to break into the side under Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce. He did prove his quality last season, but only after he had joined RB Leipzig on loan in January.
The 20-year-old scored five goals and provided three assists in 11 Bundesliga appearances, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Leipzig are keen to bring him back on a permanent basis. Interestingly, the Mail suggests that Lookman is interested in returning unless he receives assurances from Marco Silva.
Given those kind of figures, it seems to make all the sense in the world for Everton to shelve plans to try and land Zaha and hand Lookman the assurances that he is looking for. It would be a huge surprise if the club were able to do both.
Lookman is not on the same level as Zaha, but he is nearly five years younger than the Ivory Coast international so has more than enough time to reach those same heights. And crucially, he arguably has the potential to get to that level while there is absolutely no guarantee that Zaha will be capable of justifying a £70 million fee.
It may not reap as many rewards in the short-term, but keeping faith in Lookman may be the smarter move in the long-term, especially as abandoning plans to spend as much as £70 million on Zaha may allow Silva to strengthen other areas of his squad significantly.
Signing Zaha would be a fantastic statement, but perhaps focusing on turning Lookman into the world-beater he has only threatened to be so far would be even more beneficial to Everton.
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