Everton really wanted to sign ‘outstanding’ player in January, he’s just been called up by Argentina

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Everton were interested in signing Carlos Alcaraz before he joined Southampton.

That’s according to The Athletic, who have reported that the Toffees thought he was one of the best talents in Argentina but were unable to match the Saints’ offer.

Alcaraz came up through the youth ranks with Racing Club before making his senior debut in 2020. The midfielder netted seven goals in the Argentine Primera Division before he was snapped up by Southampton in a £12 million deal in January.

Alcaraz went onto score four goals and provide two assists in 18 appearances in the Premier League before Southampton were relegated to the Championship.

He is yet to make a goal contribution in the second tier and has only started five games, however he had been attracting plenty of interest from the likes of Brighton and AC Milan in the summer.

The Saints had initially slapped a £25 million valuation on the 20-year-old, but they have now managed to tie him down to a new five-year contract.

Carlos Alcaraz was out of budget

Everton had clearly seen a lot of potential in Alcaraz during his time in South America, however they reportedly wouldn’t have been able to afford his £12m price tag.

The Toffees’ financial struggles last season were very clear when they didn’t make a single signing in January, but instead just brought Ellis Simms back from his loan spell with Sunderland.

Carlos Alcaraz was unable to prevent Southampton’s relegation, however he is clearly impressing a lot of people to be attracting interest from such elite clubs.

The ‘outstanding’ creative midfielder could have been what Sean Dyche‘s side needed among a poor attack, though there is no point looking back when there was no way the club were ever forking out the cash for such a signing.