Everton were previously linked with Norwegian ace Sander Berge.
According to a report by Estadio Deportivo, Sevilla are looking to sign Genk ace Sander Berge having made a 15 million euros [£13.5 million] bid for the highly-rated youngster.
Sevilla bidding an eight-figure fee for the Norway international will allow Genk to net a tidy profit on the player, after they reportedly outbid Everton to sign him back in January 2017 for a paltry £1.8 million.
The Toffees were supposedly keen on signing the youngster while he was plying his trade at Valerenga, yet Norwegian legend Kjetil Rekdal claims the Merseyside club were not willing to pay their asking price.
“Of course, Sander wanted to go to the Premier League, but Everton weren’t being generous enough. Genk were offering more,” Rekdal told AftenPosten of Berge, who cost as little as £1.8 million when moving to Belgium in January.
Everton’s decision not to sign the midfielder may now come back to haunt them, especially as the player has developed into a top talent and could be heading to one of La Liga’s best clubs for a sizeable fee.
The Toffees have not had the best of times in the transfer market over the past two seasons, as they went about trying to break into the Premier League’s top six the wrong way.
Instead of buying top young talent such as Berge and developing them accordingly, like Tottenham Hotspur have done with Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Eric Dier, Everton in contrast have spent lavishly.
Big-money deals for Wayne Rooney and Gylifi Sigurdsson failed to pay off, and this summer they appear in danger of going in the same direction having spent a potentially whopping £50 million on Richarlison (the BBC).
Nine-capped Berge could have bidded his time at Goodison Park and gradually broken through, yet Everton’s apparent lack of patience and short-term focus has ultimately seen them miss out on a top prospect.
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