Everton looking to swap Colombians before transfer deadline

With four days to go until the current transfer window slams shut Everton are considering a swap deal exchanging one Colombian attacker for another.

In this alledged exchange James Rodriguez would leave Merseyside to return to his first European club Porto, while Everton get his international colleague Luis Diaz in return.

On the face of it this sounds a pretty raw deal for the Portuguese club as they are getting an injury-prone 31-year-old and the Blues will have a young talent who’s only 24.

However, of course that 31-year-old is one of the best pure footballers in the world and a hugely experienced global superstar. So whether it’s good swap for Porto, does this potential deal make sense for the Toffees as well?

Despite his great talent, Rodriguez has been a bit of an enigma since he joined Everton last summer. He started the season in sensational form but then suffered a series of injury problems and struggled to make a consistent impact following the first international break during the rest of the season.

This is part of the pattern of his recent times at various other clubs such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich when he would spend long periods out hurt.

Then when Carlo Ancelotti abruptly departed at the beginning of June and Rafa Benitez eventually came in, it seemed his days at Goodison Park were numbered considering that Ancelotti was the reason he signed and the fact that he has a difficult past history with Benitez.

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While many Evertonians want him to stay, Rodriguez hasn’t shown much commitment to the club recently and hasn’t played this season making it seem all the more likely he will go.

Benitez is also still keen on wide reinforcements before the window shuts and despite adding two wingers in Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray, he wants another but doesn’t have the money to fund any more significant signings.

Well Diaz fits the bill and is certainly a talented player who has already bagged two goals this season so far and looks a decent bet. According to Whoscored.com he tends to play on the left and likes to come inside but can operate on either flank.

Apart from whether Rodriguez will be prepared to go back to Porto (although it doesn’t look like he has any other takers so it might be his only option if he wants out of Everton) the other question is can the Toffees find a fee rumoured to be around £20 million?

On the face of it, given the way this window has gone with a total spend of only a few million quid, that seems unlikely. However, if that fee can be knocked down a bit and a deal can be done that sees the Blues get some money in for Moise Kean, then perhaps they will have the cash needed to get this one over the line.

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