According to Fabrizio Romano, Everton have now joined Crystal Palace in the race to sign Donny van de Beek at the request of Frank Lampard.
What’s the story?
Well, the 43-year-old is set to replace Rafa Benitez at Goodison Park, and he’s now keen to rival Crystal Palace for the Manchester United outcast.
The Manchester Evening News revealed that Patrick Vieira’s side had agreed terms with the Red Devils over a loan deal.
However, two other unnamed sides have also agreed terms, so it’s possible that one of these clubs is Everton.
After all, the Toffees are in desperate need of a midfielder after Abdoulaye Doucoure and Fabian Delph suffered injuries.
Should Everton fail to sign Van de Beek, they could land Ruben Loftus-Cheek instead – the Daily Mail believe he’s a target for the Toffees.
The Dutchman is upset at Old Trafford due to a lack of playing time.
So far this season, Van de Beek has only played 68 minutes of Premier League football, and has made just four league starts in total since his £40m move from Ajax in 2020.
Everton must work hard to fend off Crystal Palace
In our view, the south Londoners are in a better position to sign Van de Beek, and have been in talks with Manchester United for a while now.
Contrastingly, Everton are new to the party, as their interest has only come about at the request of Lampard.
Additionally, the Manchester Evening News state that Van de Beek’s partner Estelle is the daughter of Arsenal great Dennis Bergkamp.
They add that Bergkamp and Vieira remain close friends.
Therefore, it’s possible that this could be enough to push Van de Beek in the direction of Selhurst Park.
Furthermore, things are quite toxic at Everton right now, and there’s a chance they could drop into the Championship.
Nobody wants a relegation on their CV, so Van de Beek will probably be wary of moving to Merseyside over south London.
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