It appears that Charly Alcaraz is staying on with Everton for the foreseeable future, with reports coming from Leticia Marques, a reporter for Flamengo, his current parent club, suggesting that the deal is nearly done.
Paul Joyce, a reporter for The Times in the UK, confirms the report and says that the club and player hope to secure the deal before the end of the month, which is this weekend.
The fee is still said to be in the €15 million range, which is roughly where the original obligation to buy was expected to be, although Marques noted that the clause from the original loan was not met during the Argentine's spell that began in January.
Still, the interest remained, and all signs point to Alcaraz becoming the signing of the summer for David Moyes' Everton side.
It's been a pretty no-brainer of a decision from Everton's point of view, keeping a good young player on a low transfer fee around, especially after he proved himself during his time at the club and has made it clear almost from the outset that he wanted to stay on Merseyside.
It was a good few months with Everton for the young attacking player, as he managed five goal contributions (2 goals, 3 assists) in just 774 minutes and only seven starts in 17 matches. He's proven himself to be adept on the ball and willing to make a run into the box, like he did for his match winner against Newcastle on the final day.
And with the rest of the squad going under a fairly major transformation, it will be good to have some continuity on the front line with Alcaraz, Iliman Ndiaye, Dwight McNeil, and possibly Beto mixing in with new players coming in.
It's great business for Everton for the 22-year-old, and even if he ends up leaving in a few seasons, there's a good chance at a major profit from that sale.
In the meantime, let's look forward to Alcaraz bagging goals and assists at Hill Dickinson Stadium next season.