Media reports claim Tariq Lamptey will cost Everton £30 million

Reports emerging today claim Everton would have to cough up £30 million to sign Brighton and Hove Albion right-back Tariq Lamptey.

As most of you will know by now, the young full-back is a player rumoured to be on the radar of Everton along with another English defender Max Aarons.

The Blues need more options in that position with an ageing Seamus Coleman coming to end of his career and the only other orthodox right-back, Jonjo Kenny, unconvincing at this level and currently on loan at Celtic.

So the club will almost certainly be making this a priority for reinforcements when the summer transfer window opens.

A local Brighton paper has claimed that the Seagulls have slapped the big fee on Lamptey, who has only recently signed a contract keeping him at the Amex Stadium until 2025, to ward of interest from other Premier League clubs.

The Toffees are in the market for a new right-back and Lamptey is, along with Aarons, the frontrunner. The former Chelsea youth product has had a breakthrough season during this current campaign and is now on the radar of several clubs including Arsenal.

Previously we’ve looked at the merits of the Brighton man and Aarons and while both would seem good options, Lamptey is perhaps the more versatile and attack-minded of the two.

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He plays further forward often operating as a wing-back or even an attacking midfielder and he can also play across the backline too if needed.

But a fee of £30 million is prohibitive and given recent comments from Carlo Ancelotti I imagine that sort of money is more than the Blues will be prepared to pay for a full-back.

There are also apparently issues with Lamptey’s size. He’s considered a bit too short for what Ancelotti wants as a replacement in that position, according to the Echo anyway!

With that fee, around £10 million more than Norwich wanted for Aarons, and the need for a bigger, more powerful player it does seem increasingly likely that Everton’s attention will be turing to Aarons as their first-choice option.

And if recent reports that other alleged interested clubs like Bayern Munich, are now cooling their pursuit of him then that also would seem to make Aarons fornt-runner now.

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