Las Palmas’ young centre-half had reportedly interested Barcelona – and Everton would have to pay a huge fee.
You could argue that the rise of the buyout-clause has made it easier to sign your top target. After all, rather than spending weeks negotiating a fee with a club determined to pinch every penny possible, triggering the clause means suitors can cut out the middle-man and negotiate directly with the player.
Yet, a buyout clause doesn’t necessarily equate to a bargain. While Chelsea paid just £7 million to snap up Newcastle United’s star man Demba Ba in January 2013, as reported by The Telegraph, Arsenal were forced to shell out over £50 million for La Liga duo Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez.
Therefore, while triggering a fee is all that stands between Everton and beginning negotiations with in-demand Las Palmas defender Mauricio Lemos, according to Canarias7, would they really be willing to pay £26 million?
It must be remembered that Quique Setien’s side paid just £2 million to sign the 21-year-old from Rubin Kazan last year and, although Lemos has impressed to the extent that even Barcelona have been linked, the reality is that his buyout clause far outstrips his value.
Especially when you consider that Everton made an offer of just £7.8 million for Lemos last summer, as reported by Sport. He’s improved in the last 10 months but trebling his transfer fee seems excessive.
Therefore, Everton have a difficult decision to make. Backed by billionaire shareholder Farhad Moshiri, money is far less an object now than it was during the ‘make and mend’ regime of Bill Kenwright.
Yet, that does not mean the club should be willing to throw so-called ‘silly money’ at players just to save themselves the painful process of negotiations.
Lemos is a talented defender, one of the brightest in Spain. But, if Everton were to trigger his clause, they’d be paying an almost identical fee to the one that brought Romelu Lukaku to Goodison Park.
Maybe a buyout clause doesn’t make everything easier.
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