Everton tried to sign ‘fantastic’ player who Guardiola was really impressed with, they were outbid

Add as preferred source on Google

Everton were interested in signing Shea Charles in the summer.

That’s according to The Athletic, who have reported that the Toffees were monitoring the midfielder but were unable to match Southampton’s bid.

Shea Charles had a lot of people talking when he secured a huge £15 million move to St Mary’s Stadium – despite only making one appearance in senior football.

The teenager joined Manchester City’s academy in 2011 and was a key player for their U-21 side before he was called up to train with the first team.

Charles was named as a substitute for Man city’s last-16 tie against RB Leipzig in February, before making his Premier League debut against Brentford on the final day of the season.

The ‘fantastic’ youngster failed to make another appearance for the treble winners but had done enough for Southampton to spend big on his arrival.

The report claims that Everton were another club that had been keeping an eye on Charles’ progress at the Etihad Stadium, but they wouldn’t have been able to put together a package to match Southampton’s £15m offer.

Everton need the cash to compete for players like Shea Charles

It says a lot about Everton’s financial situation when, not unlikely can they not compete with their Premier League rivals, but they also can’t keep up with teams that are playing in the Championship. The Toffees had their sights set on players such as Charles, Joel Piroe and Conor Coady, but couldn’t compete financially with Southampton, Leeds United and Leicester City.

Sean Dyche’s side are definitely heading in the right direction with their recruitment though, with Charles impressing for Southampton and also on the international stage with Northern Ireland.

While thoughts surrounding the impending takeover aren’t particularly positive, fans will be hopeful that 777 Partners can inject some cash so that the Toffees can finally afford these type of players.