Roma are prepared to sell rumoured Everton target Cengiz Under, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, although not until the summer.
Everton were first linked with the Turkey international earlier this month, when the paper version of Il Mattino (cited by Star Sport) claimed that Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi was working to shift the forward, with Everton and Spurs named loosely as possible destinations.
Calciomercato supported the story by claiming that Roma no longer value Under as ‘non-transferable’, when they had once considered him unsellable. They also claim that Roma would let him go for around €35-40million.
Dean Jones of Bleacher Report then reported that Everton have actually made contact with the Giallorossi, with the Blues keen to sound out Under’s availability, although there was no following report claiming of an offer having been made,
Now Gazzetta are providing an update from Roma’s point of view, claiming that the club are willing to cash in, although they want the 22-year old to build some form up first.
Roma would prefer to bring Under into the first-team and once he has returned to his best, sell him in the summer for around €50million, which would represent a big profit on the €14.25million they paid Basaksehir for him in 2017.
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Marcel Brands recently spoke at Everton’s AGM this week (Liverpool Echo) about transfer fees and how ‘it is not realistic’ for Everton to spend transfer fees in the excess of £60million on new players, and while Under would cost around £43million according to Gazzetta, this does seem a bit like a non-starter.
Under has only made three starts in Serie A for the Rome outfit, scoring just once in league competition (WhoScored) this season, so the winger’s statistics can’t really point to whether Everton should make a move or not.
If Everton decide they want to sign a new right winger this month, or that they’re willing to wait until the summer, I personally think that Carlo Ancelotti and Marcel Brands would be better suited focusing on other, less expensive targets.
