Confusion reigns over whether Brazilian forward Bernard will be leaving Everton in this transfer window following comments from Carlo Ancelotti recently.
The future of the former Shaktar Donetsk player has been the subject of repeated stories since the last transfer window and Everton seemed open to him leaving the club.
There were rumours that a deal was being done at the end of the summer, but that didn’t ultimately happen and Bernard remained a Toffees player.
Now as the January window loomed those stories were revived and Bernard was strongly linked with a move to Serie A and Roma as part of a possible swap deal which would mean on-loan goalkeeper Robin Olsen staying permanently at Goodison Park.
But then Ancelotti seemed to quash those rumours and appeared to be ruling out a move away from Everton for his diminutive Brazilian forward.
Fast forward to today and reports in Italy are claiming that in fact the deal could still go ahead despite what the Blues boss has said!
Corriere Dello Sport claim that Toffees manager was bluffing and that a deal for Bernard to go is still very much on… so who knows what is going on.
Everton will be looking to offload some fringe players this month and free up their wages. How successful they are at achieving this this may determine whether the club can and do bring any new signings in before the end of the month.
Bernard is one of those fringe players and he isn’t likely to play much and while he’s had a few opportunities recently he’s not done enough to convince he can have a significant role on Merseyside going forward.
Linked to Bernard’s still uncertain future is another surprising story concerning his fellow countryman Filippe Anderson.
It’s claimed the Toffees are considering a move for the West Ham forward who is currently on-loan in Portugal having failed to convince David Moyes he has a future at the London Stadium.
All these stories and rumours are rather strange and slightly surreal stuff but par for the course in a modern transfer window!