Vitor Pereira informed Everton of his desire to bring Fenerbahce midfielder Miguel Crespo to Goodison Park when in talks over the manager’s job at the Premier League giants, as reported by Sporx.
As Frank Lampard guided Everton to a 3-0 hammering of Leeds United, their most eye-catching performance of the entire campaign, Pereira must have been left feeling like he was picking shotgun shells out of his own foot, wishing he could turn back the clock.
If the former Porto coach had not gone public with his desire to replace Rafa Benitez on the blue half of Stanley Park – taking the unusual step of conducting an exclusive interview with Sky Sports in what felt like a desperate and very misguided attempt to curry favour amongst a suspicious Everton fanbase – then it might have been him, rather than Lampard, going head-to-head with Marcelo Bielsa last weekend.
Pereira, a long-time favourite of Everton chief Farhad Moshiri, held talks with the Toffees last month.
He even went as far as to pick out his number one transfer target. Pereira informed the Everton bosses of his desire to be reunited with 25-year-old Crespo in England’s North West.
Did Everton make the right call with Frank Lampard?
According to Sporx, Everton’s scouts compiled a report on Crespo at Pereira’s request. They even submitted an offer to Fenerbahce.
The transfer was quickly curtailed once Pereira shot himself in the foot, however. Everton, on deadline day, turned to Dele Alli and Donny Van de Beek on deadline day. Two players Lampard was very keen to work with at Goodison Park.
As for Crespo, the former Braga and Estoril enforcer, looks certain to be on his way to a major European league sooner rather than later, even if Pereira’s ill-advised interview scuppered any hopes he might have had of pulling on Everton blue.
La Liga champions Atletico Madrid made a loan-to-buy of their own last month, one worth around £9.5 million.
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