According to Correio de Manha and Futaa, Everton are rivalling Arsenal for the signature of Benfica winger Rafa Silva this summer.
It’s claimed that Arsenal are especially keen on signing Silva, with Mikel Arteta looking to bring the wide man to the Emirates Stadium.
Everton are also thought to be keen. They’ve allegedly spoken to his agent Antonio Araujo about a move, despite Benfica not being interested in selling.
His €80million (£71.5million) release clause may deter teams, as the global pandemic will leave Everton and Arsenal needing to cut their cloth accordingly.
Silva, 27, predominantly plays as a left-sided winger, but he can also play behind a striker. This season, he has notched nine goals and six assists.
Last season, Silva was in unbelievable form. He smashed 21 goals for Benfica, and earned Premier League links off the back of that, but no move materialised.
Arsenal and Everton have seemingly fancied him for a while, but they certainly wouldn’t be paying anywhere close to £71.5million to sign him.
Everton would surely prefer a natural right winger rather than another left-sided player, as Alex Iwobi and Bernard prefer to play on the left, and Silva would only add to their options on that side, so we’re not putting too much stock into this one.
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