Everton were willing to pay upwards of £70 million for – wait for it – Diego Costa in the summer, according to a report.
The Sun reported on Sunday that Everton tried and failed with a late move for Chelsea hitman Diego Costa last month.
The English outlet claims that Everton had told their London counterparts that they would be willing to pay a massive £66 million to sign the fiery striker in the summer.
However, Costa, told by Antonio Conte in June that he had no future in West London, had his heart set on a return to Atletico Madrid and will be unveiled there this week.
But fans of the Merseyside club should not be too disappointed to learn that their side failed to sign him because, in truth, £70 million would’ve been a criminal amount to pay, even in a climate when transfer fees are higher than ever before.
Costa managed 52 Premier League goals during his three-year stint at Stamford Bridge, averaging 17 goals per season, which isn’t a terrible return but for £70 million he’d have been expected to score a lot more.
And if he didn’t have an outstanding goalscoring record with Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Willian and Pedro as the source of his goals, why would he at Everton, with Davy Klaassen, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Rooney?
With less than 20 assists in 120 games for the club, he isn’t a player who offers much more than just goals and there will be younger, better-rounded hitmen available for significantly less in January and beyond.
The pressure was on Everton boss Ronald Koeman to sign a striker, having tried and failed to recruit the likes of Olivier Giroud, but spending that sort of money on Costa would’ve been a major panic buy and the Merseysiders should count themselves lucky that it did not materialise.
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