Everton appear to have lost out to Real Madrid in their pursuit of Brazilian midfielder Reinier, according to reports.
It was reported last week that the La Liga giants had opened talks with the 17-year old, who had been a considerable target for the Toffees in the summer.
Everton’s interest in Reinier was initially reported as the club having agreed a €30million deal with Flamengo, that would have seen the midfielder move to Goodison Park once he turned 18 in January.
Reports then claimed that Everton’s €30million offer had actually been rejected by the Brazilian club, who did not feel it was an adequate proposal from the Merseyside outfit, however another report would then claim that Everton made no such offer at all.
Ultimately Everton never agreed a deal to sign Reinier, although in a final twist in the transfer saga, Jorge Nicola (via Sport Witness) affirmed earlier this week that Everton did in fact make a €30million offer, and that Real Madrid had only offered €25million.
All this leads to fresh reports today, that claim that Reinier has now agreed to join Real Madrid, but that he had also considered Everton before making a decision.
The South American is expected to link up with Los Blancos once he turns 18 later this month, although his representatives had originally preferred for him to join a club who aren’t so ‘elite’, with Everton, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax named as options.
This is according to AS (via Sport Witness), who claim that the presence of Raul and Zinedine Zidane at the Santiago Bernabeu tipped the scales in Real Madrid’s favour for Reinier this month.
Read Everton Verdict
Following all of the twists and turns in Everton’s protracted pursuit of Reinier, it isn’t clear to what degree the club were in contact with Reinier’s people and whether the Blues were ultimately snubbed or not.
Madrid seem to have landed a highly promising starlet with an impressive goalscoring record, with the 17-year-old having scored six goals in just eight starts this season, making 15 total appearances for Flamengo (WhoScored).
With Everton in desperate need for midfield reinforcements this window, it might not have been wise anyway to pay some a large sum for a young and inexperienced option when other more dependable players are out there and available.
Everton have been linked with ambitious offers for the likes of Piotr Zielinski, Adrien Rabiot and Gedson Fernandes this month, and perhaps looking at more experienced targets such as the trio would be the more appropriate route than targeting inexperienced talent such as Reinier, with Everton not able to afford younger players time to adjust to the Premier League.
