Everton make bid for midfielder transfer, he touches down in new country - report

Leandro Barreiro has arrived in Lisbon ahead of a move to Benfica despite Everton making a bid to sign him, according to O Jogo.

The Portuguese outlet reported in their print edition (1 July, page 21) that the Luxembourg midfielder is on the verge of signing for Benfica from Mainz after they were the first club to approach and present terms to him.

A bid had been made by the Toffees, but they weren’t alone, with Nottingham Forest, Galatasaray, Marseille, Borussia Monchengladbach, RB Leipzig, Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen all keen on signing Barreiro for free this summer.

However, despite several of these proposals being higher than that of Benfica’s, Barreiro had already reached an agreement with them and, according to Fabrizio Romano, could be announced by the Portuguese side as soon as Monday (1 July).

Transfer setback could be a blessing in disguise for Everton

While Barreiro is clearly a highly rated player who has been just as highly sought across Europe this summer, the Toffees may look back thankfully on not being dragged into a bidding war to sign him.

The Blues have very little financial wiggle room this summer as they look to avoid another season mired by financial fair play issues, and thus shelling out on extortionate wage demands wouldn’t be ideal [Kieran Maguire, 30 May].

Going up against eight other clubs for the midfielder could have seen a long-winded free transfer saga play out, but Barreiro’s early decision to choose Benfica has prevented that from happening [Record, 6 June].

Furthermore, adding Barreiro to their own squad could result in Benfica being more likely to sell fellow pivot Florentino Luis, whom the Toffees have been much more heavily linked with [A Bola, 28 May].

As the midfield stocks at Goodison Park undergo huge churn this summer, with Andre Gomes and Dele Alli departing already with Amadou Onana likely to follow, Barreiro’s decision to swerve the Blues’ advances could pave the way for another exciting transfer development.

In other Everton news, developments are expected next week after an official bid was made for a Goodison Park-linked star.

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