El Bilal Toure Atalanta medical in place in £26.5m deal, Everton had staff on standby – Sky Sports

Everton had staff on standby for Almeria striker El Bilal Toure to complete a medical at Goodison Park, according to Sky Sports.

The publication reported on its website on Friday (28 July) that the Toffees were close to signing the 21-year-old forward.

However, Sky Sports have noted that the Mali international is now having a medical with Atalanta after agreeing a £26.5million deal with the Serie A club, having preferred a switch to the Italian top flight.

“Almeria forward El Bilal Toure is having a medical with Atalanta after the clubs agreed a £26.5m deal,” according to Sky Sports.

“Everton were close to signing him and had staff on standby to do a medical. However, Toure’s desire to play in Serie A proved decisive.”

It may seem like a missed opportunity for Everton, with Toffees supporters set to be disappointed at the club’s failure to bring in the talented forward.

However, a move to Merseyside was perhaps never really on the cards if the 21-year-old always had his heart set on a switch to Serie A.

Still, Everton need new players, and the Mali international would have undoubtedly helped the Toffees have a much better season than they did last time.

Setbacks like this do, of course, happen to plenty of clubs in the summer transfer window, but Sean Dyche is now rapidly running out of time to bring more new faces to Goodison Park, having already acquired Ashley Young on a free transfer and Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal.

The new Premier League season is getting closer and closer, and Everton will no doubt struggle once again if more signings are not made between now and the end of the window.

In other Everton news, James Garner has sent a four-word message to one player after the latest Manchester United transfer news.

Door has now open for Everton to seal new striker transfer, player wants PL move

Everton transfer news as door now open to sign Joel Piroe who wants Premier League move

Swansea City striker Joel Piroe wants a move to the Premier League this summer opening the door for Everton to make their move, according to the Swansea Independent.

According to the report (28 July), a move to a Championship club is less attractive for the Dutchman and with the English second-division campaign set to kick off in a week’s time, Swansea want a rapid decision from Everton on whether they want to sign him.

Piroe looks almost certain to leave Swansea this summer with Wales Online reporting on 29 June that both Everton and Nottingham Forest were interested with his contract still having a year left to run.

Everton have reportedly made tentative enquiries for the talented striker but are yet to firm up their interest.

Dyche needs to decide

Given the Toffees’ damning goalscoring exploits last season, finishing as the division’s second-lowest scorers (34 goals), signing a striker is absolutely high on their priority list and after the failure to tempt El Bilal Toure to join the club, Sean Dyche holds a huge decision on which striker seems the best fit for his Everton ambitions.

At 23 years and coming off the back of another scintillating Championship campaign, Piroe seems the sensible and attractive option right now and it seems as if Swansea are awaiting the Toffees’ decision on the player.

The forward, dubbed “outstanding” by his former manager Russell Martin has enjoyed life at the Welsh club over the previous few seasons as stated previously, scoring 24 goals in 2021/22 and finding the net on 20 occasions this season, suggesting he is a prolific frontman that can score on a regular basis.

Piroe will solve plenty of the burning attacking issues in the Everton squad but is also blessed with the size, bullish characteristics and clinical goalscoring attributes to become a serious possible weapon for Dyche next season.

With the Toffees already losing Ellis Simms and Neal Maupay expected to seal his exit this summer, the Blues will only have an injury-prone Dominic Calvert-Lewin as their only real option upfront. With the new season just two weeks away, Dyche needs to make a decision fast.

In other Everton news, an exit-linked Toffees player has recently been spotted in talks with a senior Goodison Park figure ahead of the new season.

BREAKING NEWS: Everton hard working player wants to leave the club

Dominic Calvert-Lewin ‘happy’ to move to Roma as Everton transfer development emerges

Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin would be “happy” to move to Roma this summer, according to the Daily Mail.

The newspaper reported on its website on Wednesday (26 July) that the presence of several ex-Premier League players at Roma would help the Toffees man settle at the club.

The 26-year-old forward is wanted by the Serie A club in a loan-to-buy deal, according to Corriere dello Sport (26 July).

“Calvert-Lewin would be happy to move to Italy, to Roma, under the guidance of Mourinho, a coach capable of attracting as many quality players to the team as honey does to bees,” according to the Daily Mail.

“The presence of many former Premier League stars would ease his settlement in the city, an important aspect in the initial phase of the negotiation.”

It really is a surprising development regarding the Serie A giants, who are potentially signing Calvert-Lewin to replace their injured star Tammy Abraham.

The latter is currently sidelined with a knee injury, and replacing him with the injury-prone Calvert-Lewin doesn’t exactly make sense.

The former Chelsea striker is one of many players with Premier League ties playing under Mourinho, another of course with strong links to the English top flight.

It really is a surprising development regarding the Serie A giants, who are potentially signing Calvert-Lewin to replace their injured star Tammy Abraham.

The latter is currently sidelined with a knee injury, and replacing him with the injury-prone Calvert-Lewin doesn’t exactly make sense.

The former Chelsea striker is one of many players with Premier League ties playing under Mourinho, another of course with strong links to the English top flight.

In other Everton news, Amadou Onana has sent a one-word message to a player after the latest Manchester United transfer news.

Everton front-runners to sign 19-year-old Italian international with £20 million price

Everton are reportedly leading the race to land 19-year-old Italian international Wilfried Gnonto from Leeds United.

According to Football Insider, Premier League side Everton are leading the transfer race to land Leeds United star Wilfried Gnonto in the ongoing summer transfer window.

An attacker is on the agenda at Goodison Park given their overreliance on Dominic Calvert-Lewin to find the back of the net. The Toffees have failed to adequately replace Richarlison and Anthony Gordon in recent windows, and it is adversely impacting their ability to kill off games.

They were earlier linked with a move for Almeria striker El Bilal Toure. However, the youngster is now Atalanta bound, forcing the Merseysiders to look elsewhere. This could see them revisit a move for the Leeds United star.

The 19-year-old arrived at Elland Road last summer and has shown enough promise to suggest that he can thrive in the English top flight. A senior Italian international, Gnonto is one of the best young talents in Europe at this

Primarily a left winger, Gnonto is a versatile attacker capable of playing anywhere along the frontline. This will give Sean Dyche several options on how to deploy him as per the requirement. Serie A champions Napoli are also interested in the player but are currently behind Everton in the race to land him.

While the Partenopei can certainly offer him more in terms of quality, their need to sell before buying puts them at a disadvantage. Everton can land the Italian for around £20 million, a reasonable price for a player who could go on to become a regular fixture for them in the years to come.

The Toffees will also be emboldened by the fact that Leeds United are in serious need of reinvestment. All in all, a transfer would suit all parties involved in the deal. Gnonto is a rough diamond with much fine polishing needed.

Working under a rigid tactician like Dyche could stifle his freedom to express himself in a fluid system. However, given the poor roster at Goodison Park, the 19-year-old Italian international could very well stand out and use his tint on Merseyside to propel him to a bigger club in the future.