Everton continue to “insist” on a deal for Leeds United’s Wilfried Gnonto this summer, but Aston Villa are showing “no intention of letting go” of their chase.
Reports in Italy claim that the Toffees have reached an £18m agreement for the Italy international following Leeds’ relegation to the Championship, but Aston Villa are also tracking the winger.
And according to Calciomercato journalist Alessio Lento, they could be prepared to hijack the deal as they aren’t prepared to let go of the 19-year-old.
There hasn’t been much talk of Gnonto to Everton in England, but in Italy it seems to be a very hot topic and there is rarely smoke without fire.
Talk of an agreement may well be a little bit premature, but the quicker Everton can get a deal sealed and signed the better because if Villa come in too then it will make things difficult.
Financially we simply can’t compete with them right now and they’re also at the opposite end of the table to us and preparing to play in the Europa Conference League in the upcoming season.
Gnonto would be the absolute perfect signing for the type of thing we need, with an exciting style but also smart decision-making and efficiency to go with a fairly moderate transfer fee in the process.
But the longer we leave it to be completed, the more likely it is that someone will step in and hijack the deal, and then we’ll be kicking ourselves for not getting it done sooner.