According to reports today, alleged Everton target and Bournemouth forward Josh King wants a £120,000 per week deal to sign for the Toffees.
King to Everton is a rumour that has resurfaced recently as the Blues look to strengthen their attacking options and cope with any absences of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, whether due to injury or suspension.
Now British tabloid The Sun are running a story claiming that King wants way more than 100 grand-a-week to come to Goodison Park, or anywhere else.
This is a very significant salary for Everton to pay the Norway international and the Toffees are not likely to consider that sort of pay deal for a player who is probably not going to be starting week in, week out.
The Bournemouth player is a good, versatile forward who can play anywhere across the frontline and would probably be a good reserve for Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison. But that sort of salary especially in these financial times, is the money you’d pay a top-class guaranteed starter.
Marcel Brands has recently said that the Blues won’t be making any new signings in this January transfer window anyway so a deal for King, if it happens, will have to wait for the summer when he will also be a free agent.
More from Prince Rupert's Tower
- Everton 0 Arsenal 1: Blues fall to third home defeat
- Further chaos in Everton takeover as other lenders not keen on 777 Partners
- Everton need repeat of Arsenal win to kick-start their season on Sunday
- More madness at Everton as Moshiri now agrees to sell club to 777 Partners
- Everton takeover talk cools after UK govt doubts and further questions
If King wants to come to Everton this summer he will need to substantially lower his wage demands to make a deal possible otherwise the Toffees will surely look to other alternatives.
Talking of money and the value of players, Everton have revealed a big increase in the value of their squad since last year.
With the high-profile signings made last summer many of the Blues players have substantially increased their value and this is good news for the club.
According to Transfermarkt.co.uk a number of Toffees players have seen their market price increase a lot in the past twelve months.
The biggest increases in value are for young players who have been outstanding this season. Calvert-Lewin has seen his market price rise by almost 20%, Ben Godfrey’s value is up by nearly 10% and Richarlison (the Blues most valuable player) is now worth more than £50 million.
One particularly good piece of news is that James Rodriguez who the club has confirmed was a free transfer, is worth over £30 million, all of which is basically pure profit for the Toffees.
I’m not advocating the Blues sell him, but it’s an excellent bit of business financially especially when you add the club’s hugely increased market profile in South America they can now exploit after bringing in the Colombian star.
The Blues also appear to have come out better from the Covid-induced financial than some other Premier League clubs as their squad value has generally increased while others have seen previously very highly valued players decline in price.
Money isn’t, or shouldn’t be everything in football, but it’s a big part of the modern game and it’s good to see Everton are succeeding commercially as well as doing better on the pitch.