Everton have been throwing bids around all summer in their efforts to bolster the squad, however this window has not been marred by the usual scattergun approach employed under Farhad Moshiri’s reign.
Instead, Kevin Thelwell has acted with intelligence, identifying positions of peril and drawing up shortlists of stars who will improve Sean Dyche’s first team.
With five new faces already added, it’s fair to say he has enjoyed success thus far.
However, despite most fans being content with the business done, the director of football is still far from finished.
Everton planning second bid for Barcelona striker
The latest on Everton’s pursuit of Vitor Roque, which kicked off with their opening bid earlier this month, comes courtesy of Spanish outfit Catalunya.
It claims that, whilst Thelwell has been dealt this initial setback, it will not deter him from returning to the table with Barcelona. In fact, they rather dramatically state: ‘Everton’s second offer by Vítor Roque, they talk to Deco: ‘It’s coming…’.’
The report then goes on to claim: ‘Now Barça has lowered its valuation to €30-35 million and there is a Premier League club that is interested in getting the player’s services.
‘Vítor Roque likes the proposal of the Premier League and, after refusing to leave Europe, Everton would be the ideal club for the development of the young man.’
The Toffees’ first bid was £25m, and it does seem somewhat unlikely that they will be able to stump up a figure much higher than that.
How good is Vitor Roque?
The sky really is the limit for this Brazilian teenager, who despite failing to command a starting place at Barcelona, is still held in high regard in his homeland.
And rightly so given the fine start to his young career already enjoyed, even earning praise from former Brazil head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari back in 2022: ‘He’s a jewel, spectacular, pure. Hard worker, but still developing at 17. He turned pro at 15. Some things to work on… imagine in 2 to 3 years. Mentally he’s spectacular. Good kid. He’ll be world-class.’
At 19 years old, there is still so much time for him to realise this remarkable potential, with the foundation laid as he scored 21 goals and posted eight assists in his final campaign in Brazil before earning his £35m move to Spain.
Following in the footsteps of stars like Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Neymar, all of whom made the transition straight from Brazil to Spanish football, Roque is not enjoying as much success, stuck behind an ageing Robert Lewandowski in the pecking order.
Perhaps a move to Everton and the Premier League could help in reaching his impossibly bright future sooner, where he would be a far bigger fish in a far smaller pond.
He has just two goals in 16 games for Barcelona.
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