Everton are close to making their third signing of the summer with the capture of Crystal Palace star Yannick Bolasie.
Bolasie is an integral part of Palace’s setup and as such they have slapped a £30million price tag on their No 10.
However, Everton have struck a deal closer to £25m for the DR Congo international with the Toffees willing to include Oumar Niasse on loan as part of the transfer too.
The £25m fee will boost Palace’s bid to bolster their own firepower too with Christian Benteke their prime target.
The Belgium international isn’t part of Jurgen Klopp’s plans at Anfield but the Merseyside outfit are still hoping to recoup close to the £32.5m that they paid for him from Aston Villa last summer. Palace are hoping to offset this with a £25m bid plus £4.5m in add-ons.
While the addition of Benteke would be a welcome one, Bolasie would be missed by Palace – a popular figure among the Selhurst Park faithful.
He has gradually developed a reputation as a Premier League proven attacker but has only scored nine goals in 89 appearances for the Eagles in the top-flight.
But the pacey attacker is rated highly by the Crystal Palace hierarchy, who are keen to ward off interest from Koeman’s men by placing a hefty price tag on their coveted asset.
The sale of Bolasie would see a portion of any transfer go to Championship outfit Bristol City following his departure from Ashton Gate to Palace in 2012.
City officials negotiated a sell-on clause at the time and the club stands to benefit from an undisclosed percentage of any fee should Bolasie be sold this summer.
Speaking last summer, Robins’ chief executive John Pelling confirmed to the Bristol Post: ‘There is a sell-on clause, but there is also a confidentiality clause which prevents us disclosing the details.
‘I hear that Palace don’t want to sell, but if they do, then there will be something coming our way.
‘It won’t be an amount that will make a massive difference to us, but everything helps.’
Everton have yet to fully flex their financial muscle – provided by new major investor Farhad Moshiri – so far this summer having only signed Idrissa Gueye from Aston Villa and Maarten Stekelenburg from Fulham.
The Toffees have lodged an £18m bid for Sunderland centre back Lamine Kone, and are still hoping to complete a deal for Swansea City captain Ashley Williams.
By Luke Augustus