Fabrizio Romano shares one negative about £15m James Garner deal for Everton & Frank Lampard

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As we approached Thursday’s 11pm deadline, Everton are close to signing James Garner from Manchester United.

The Toffees have agreed a £15m deal with the Red Devils, and the England Under-21 international has already undergone a medical on Merseyside ahead of penning a five-year contract.

However, it isn’t all perfect for Everton and Frank Lampard.

What’s the story?

Well, Everton fought off the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle to sign Garner, although it is now apparent why that may be.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Toffees have agreed to a buyback clause in negotiations with Manchester United, which effectively means the 21-year-old is arriving at Goodison Park on a glorified loan deal.

If Garner does well on Merseyside, Manchester United can simply trigger their buyback clause and bring him back.

Of course, that will ultimately be down to the midfielder himself, so one thing Everton and Lampard can do is ensure he remains as happy and content as possible at Goodison Park.

Romano does not mention how much this buyback clause is worth, but the fact it exists definitely puts a bit of a downer on what initially seemed to be good news for Everton.

Everton should at least profit from James Garner deal

While a buyback clause does no favours for any side’s long-term planning, it should at least ensure Everton make a bit of profit from this deal.

For example, Southampton agreed to a £25m buyback clause when signing Tino Livramento from Chelsea in a permanent deal worth £5m last summer.

The right-back has shone for the Saints, although Ralph Hasenhuttl is surely drawing up a list of potential replacements already as a result of that.

Of course, that lands Southampton a profit of £20m, so Everton have hopefully only agreed to a buyback clause in the region of at least £35m to ensure a similar return, if worst does come to worst.

However, the danger is that Garner does so well, his value ends up exceeding whatever figure Everton and Manchester United have agreed, potentially leaving Lampard and the Toffees shortchanged.