Lazio ‘desperate’ to sell star linked with Everton

Reports today claim Serie A club Lazio are desperate to offload alleged Everton target Luis Alberto after an internal row between the player and his club.

We’ve previously covered this story and the alleged links between the player and Everton, now it seems as though Lazio are determined to sell him as soon as possible.

This is because he has been an outspoken critic of the club hierarchy, even supposedly criticising their decision to buy a new jet plane recently, which actually is hardly a judicious move by any club you would think given the wider circumstances we are living in!

Anyway after this latest row, Lazio President Claudio Lotito has apparently set his face against the Spanish midfield maestro staying at the Stadio Olympico.

Alberto is an outstanding player who has become one of the most productive and creative performers in Serie A. Last season he managed a highly impressive seventeen assists, many of them to the club’s brilliant striker Ciro Immobile, another player who has been linked with Everton in the recent past.

The 28-year-old former Liverpool player has many excellent qualities and would undoubtedly increase further the attacking flair of the Toffees team. Although it’s not at all certain how he would fit into the current side and the formations that Carlo Ancelotti is using.

But the fee being mooted for him, around £70 million, is clearly absurd and is the sort of money Everton will never pay.

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If Lazio really are determined to be shot of him then they would presumably be ready to very considerably lower that fee to get a deal done. Still I think it’s extremely unlikely Goodison Park will be his destination if he leaves Italy.

That’s also in part because the Blues have been strongly associated with a January move for the Real Madrid star Isco.

He would be available for a much lower fee and like summer signing and former team-mate James Rodriguez might well be keen to be reunited with his former manager Ancelotti, although the Blues boss denies he is interested in a deal.

According to media reports today, in another twist to this saga, La Liga club Sevilla are strongly linked with Isco but the Toffees aren’t out of the race for him despite new claims he wants to stay in Spain.

All of this seems to be just the usual hyped paper talk at the moment and no doubt as we move closer to the new year transfer window, such stories will only steadily increase in frequency.