Southampton and Nottingham Forest have joined Everton in the race to sign Oscar Estupinan from Hull City.
What’s the story?
Well, it was Colombian news outlet Las2Orillas who claimed that Everton want to sign the Colombia international.
Now, Southampton and Nottingham Forest are showing an interest as Nathan Jones and Steve Cooper aim to improve their attack – according to AS in Spain.
The Spanish news outlet believe there is a chance Estupinan, who earns £20,000-a-week, leaves Hull City this month due to his stunning form in the Championship this season.
In 24 appearances since his move to Hull City in July, the South American has scored 12 goals while also providing one assist.
Estupinan finds himself tied for second in the Championship scoring charts as a result of his excellent form, just one behind Chuba Akpom who has 13 goals to his name.
AS do not mention any sort of valuation Hull City have for their prolific No.19 – however, the aforementioned story from Las2Orillas states that the Tigers value him at €6m (£5m).
In our view, that seems quite low, especially as the likes of Emiliano Buendia have left the Championship for the Premier League in deals exceeding £30m before – Aston Villa paid £33m to sign the Argentine from Norwich.
Therefore, we would presume that Hull City will ask for at least £20m – especially seeing as we find ourselves in the middle of the season, and Liam Rosenior has his side just seven points away from the playoff positions.
Southampton, Nottingham Forest & Everton should look elsewhere
In our view, the Premier League trio can find a more sensible option than Estupinan this month.
All three find themselves in a relegation battle, and it would be a huge risk to sign someone who has only been playing English football for seven months – it will also be tough to convince Hull City to sell.
Yes, Estupinan has performed superbly in England’s second tier, but the Premier League is a different animal – Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Everton cannot afford to wait months for a new signing to acclimatise.
Having said that, anything can happen in the market this month, so be sure to keep an eye on the situation.
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