After talks have stalled for over 2 weeks now, Everton look ready to give up on Belgian international Axel Witsel, according to the Liverpool Echo.
A fee in the region of £20-25m had been agreed between Zenit and Everton, but the player’s wage demands are proving to be a colossal hurdle, and could prove to be the smoking gun to call off the long-awaited deal.
Witsel’s services are wanted by clubs all around Europe, and the Zenit man is inviting interest from Everton, Inter Milan, Napoli and more recently, Everton’s neighbours Liverpool. It has emerged that Inter are the frontrunners to land Witsel, after he had supposedly agreed terms with the Milan-based team. Everton had confidence earlier on in the summer that Ronald Koeman would get his man, but the deal has been slowly dying and Witsel has entered talks with other clubs and as of yesterday, the 27-year old has begun his pre-season preparations back in St Petersburg with Zenit.
Everton have been entertaining alternative options to strengthen Koeman’s new look squad, such as William Carvalho of Sporting Lisbon and news has emerged today that Everton are willing to battle Juventus for Newcastle’s Moussa Sissoko, who the Magpies rate at £35m. Should the deal eventually fall through, Everton will look elsewhere.
However, the Liverpool Echo claim that William Carvalho is not a target.
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