Everton: What is holding up the signing of Sandro Ramirez?
By Paul Taylor
We know Sandro Ramirez is going to join Everton, but there has been an element of frustration, due to Malaga doing whatever they can to delay the move.
It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in football that Sandro Ramirez will join Everton. And yet, there has still been no official announcement.
So what gives? Fortunately for Everton fans, this question has now been answered, courtesy of the Liverpool Echo‘s David Prentice.
One theory was that Ramirez’s signing had been held up, due to his involvement with Spain’s Under-21 team, which lost 1-0 to Germany in the European Championships final, on Friday night.
However, it turns out this isn’t the case. In fact, Everton sent over officials to Poland last week, to agree terms with the former Barcelona player, who has also already passed his medical.
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Rather, the delay is as a result of a release clause in Ramierz’s contract, from when he joined Malaga last summer. As Prentice reports, Malaga will not sign the release forms until his current deal has run out.
As frustrating as this is, at least the Toffees do not have to wait much longer. The 21-year old’s current contract expires on July 3, at which point Malaga will no longer be able to hold up the move.
Then, Ramirez will officially be able to complete his £5.2 million switch to Everton. As per Prentice, it’s worth noting chairman Bill Kenwright refused to include a release clause in his team’s negotiations for the youngster.
Ironically, even if there had been no hold up, the Las Palmas, Spain native still wouldn’t have been in a position to report to preseason training on Monday. Due to his involvement in the U-21 European Championships, he was always going to be given a longer break.
In any event, whenever Ramirez does turn up, he will be expected to pick up some of the scoring slack, especially if and when Romelu Lukaku leaves. In that respect, last season was the best yet for Ramirez, who scored a career-high 16 goals in 31 games for Malaga. (He previously notched seven goals in 32 total appearances for Barcelona’s first team.)
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What kind of production are you expecting from Ramirez during the 2017-18 season? Are you confident in his ability to replace the goal-scoring threat of Lukaku? Share your thoughts in the comments section.