The latest Everton transfer rumor is a complicated but sensible one. The Record Portugal is reporting that the Toffees are interested in winger/midfielder Geny Catamo, who has spent the last two seasons at Sporting CP in Portugal.
Catamo is a 24-year-old who played all over the pitch for Sporting last year, seeing time on either wing, as a wingback, and even playing more of a no.10 role for the Portuguese side. He is a Mozambique international, where he almost exclusively plays as an attacking midfielder.
The most recent campaign was a very successful one for the player, as he scored 9 goals for club and country while adding three assists. One of those goals came in the Champions League league phase against Club Brugge, a match Sporting lost 2-1. Catamo also featured in matches against Lille, Manchester City, and Arsenal, among others, in that competition.
There is some speculation about Everton's level of interest, at least from Sport Witness, who question if the link is more of "a response to general reporting of Premier League interest, rather than genuine attempts from Merseyside," but Catamo certainly seems like a fit in many ways.
He's versatile, still on the younger side, has experience in a top world football competition, and has shown himself to be adept in the area where Everton need it most: scoring goals.
Catamo has been linked to other clubs in England, namely Arsenal and Aston Villa, clubs that may appeal to the player more since he could continue playing European football, but there is a bigger issue at play regardless of which team can win the race for his signature.
Sports Witness explains it this way:
"Sporting only own 25% of the player’s rights. They signed him for their youth system in 2019, with his old club Amora keeping rights to 75% of a future transfer fee.Sport Witness
The 24-year-old has since signed multiple new deals and his buyout clause is €60m, but should he be sold 75% then of the money will go to Amora. Sporting have made multiple offers to buy the club out, with the last offer worth €1.5m being rejected.
Until they can come to an agreement with Amora, it’s also certain Sporting won’t be selling the winger."
That is certainly a complication and one which cannot be overlooked. No matter how good the player is, Everton are not in a position where they can afford to wait, even for a talent like Catamo, because they badly need help in the goal scoring department.
This may mean that Everton miss out on Catamo, but either way, it's good to see the club sniffing around in the right direction.