Everton have been handed a huge blow in the chase of Almeria striker El Bilal Toure as the Malian looks set to move to Atalanta. This will deter Sean Dyche’s plans of adding a competent striker to the team and now the Toffees will be forced to look elsewhere.
Everton had been following a number of strikers this summer as the priority was to reinforce the striker department. Ellis Simms has been sold to Coventry City and there is a possibility of Neal Maupay leaving too. Dyche would have to overhaul the forward department as he wants two strikers in the summer transfer window.
Viktor Gyokeres, Iliman Ndiaye, Joel Piroe and Moussa Dembele were some of the regularly linked forwards. However, the most linked striker, almost an evergreen link was Almeria’s Bilal Toure. The 21 year old has been attracting a lot of interest across Europe with EFC being one of the most interested parties.
Everton miss out on El Bilal Toure as Atalanta transfer agreed
The Malian striker has a release clause of £34 million but it was imperative that no side would end up paying such a high fee for Bilal Toure. EFC and Atalanta remained the two front runners in the chase to sign the 21 year old who had netted seven goals in 21 La Liga games in the 2022-23 season.
As per a report, Everton were in advanced talks to sign Bilal Toure but the striker also remained in discussions with Atalanta. A decision was expected in the next couple of days and as things stand, Bilal Toure seems to be heading to Italy.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Atalanta reached an agreement in principle with Alemeria for Bilal Toure. The 21 year old would join La Dea for €28 million (£24.1m) plus €3 million (£2.6m) in add-ons. The La Liga outfit will also have a 15% sell-on clause in the deal and a long term contract has been agreed with Bilal Toure. The medical will be completed this week and barring any surprises, Bilal Toure will join Atalanta.
Everton haven’t submitted any new bids at this stage and look set to miss out on the forward. EFC had been working for weeks on this deal but have now missed out on the 21 year old, which will surely be a huge blow to the hopes of Dyche in securing a promising striker. Now, the Toffees need to regroup and reassess their targets and make a move for their other targets as soon as possible.
Which striker should EFC target after missing out on El Bilal Toure?