West Bromwich Albion will bid £22 million for Brazil international Everton Soares if they are promoted to the Premier League, with AreaNapoli reporting that West Ham, Leicester City and Newcastle United are also interested.
Luis Felipe Scolari knows a top talent when he sees one.
And the man who led a star-studded Selecao squad containing Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo to World Cup glory in 2002 is convinced that there is another Samba superstar blossoming back home in South America.
“(Everton) has extraordinary quality and speed,” Scolari says. “He reminds me of Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He is one of the greatest talents in Brazilian football today.”
Just imagine the scenes, then, if Everton brings his ‘extraordinary quality’ to The Hawthorns next season.
Reports from Italy claim that West Brom will look to make the Gremio talisman their £22 million record signing if, or when, Slaven Bilic’s side are promoted to the Premier League.
A 3-0 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday means the Baggies are five points clear of third-place Brentford with six Championship games remaining.
West Brom will face plenty of competition, however.
Newcastle, West Ham, Everton, Bayer Leverkusen, Leicester and, as you might guessed given the name of the publication, Napoli are also in the race.
Speaking to SGLR in April, Gremio president Romildo Bolzan claimed that Everton coach Carlo Ancelotti had made contact with a player who bears his club’s name – before adding that the Brazil’s 2019 Copa America hero would not be going anywhere on the cheap.
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