Everton signing Everton was something that fans felt was written in the stars. However, the Toffees failed to sign the Brazilian international back in January due to issues with their finances.
Globo Esporte claimed two months ago that Carlo Ancelotti had personally called Everton Soares in a bid to convince him to come to Goodison Park this summer.
Rumours about multiple other clubs’ interest in the Gremio forward gained pace and it looked like the Toffees would miss out on their long-term target despite having a financial edge over other sides thanks to Farhad Moshiri’s huge ambitions.
However, it now seems like Everton are still very much interested in signing their namesake but they aren’t the ones leading the race for Soares anymore.
Globo Esporte claim that Portuguese giants Benfica have started negotiations to sign Soares who has had a brilliant couple of years for Gremio as well as the Brazilian national team.
Soares scored 15 goals and provided seven assists in all competitions for Gremio last season. The 24-year-old also scored three times in the Copa America last year including one in the final to help Brazil lift the title.
His stock has risen massively since and a number of top European clubs have taken an interest in him as a result.
Playing under Ancelotti could be the deciding factor
Gremio are looking for a fee between £22 million and 27million for their star attacker and Everton, based on the amount of money they have spent over the last few years, shouldn’t have too many problems affording that fee.
The report says that Soares is open to discuss proposals from both Benfica and Everton this summer. Playing under Jorge Jesus is a huge deal for South American stars but Ancelotti certainly commands the same amount of respect from the footballing world, if not more.
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