Everton will have to pay £34.6 million if they are to sign Boulaye Dia this summer.
That’s according to Corriere dello Sport, who have reported that Salernitana have increased the asking price by around £15 million after the striker’s release clause ended earlier this week.
After claiming 16 goals and six assists whilst on loan in Serie A last season, Salernitana snapped Dia up on a permanent deal this summer. However, the attacker’s £19.9 million release clause had quickly attracted interest from Everton.
The Toffees had until midnight on Thursday to trigger Dia’s release clause but he has since remained with the Italian club, who are now demanding £34.6m to part ways with the Senegal international.
The report claims that Everton have remained the most interested club in luring Dia away from the Serie A outfit, however it would be surprising to see them meet Salernitana’s hefty demands.
Dia has received plenty of plaudits during his time in Italy, with compatriot Sadio Mane previously tipping him for a big future during his time with Reims.
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The former Liverpool man said: “I’m really impressed by his qualities. I think he won’t stay at Reims forever, believe me!”
Everton couldn’t afford Boulaye Dia’s release clause – so why would they sign him now?
Everton knew perfectly well their time was running out to pay the £19.9m release clause this week, however they failed to make any concrete moves to land Boulaye Dia.
This suggests that the Toffees couldn’t afford to meet his release clause, meaning it is very unlikely that they will now fork out an extra £15m to bring him to Goodison Park.
If they were to now sign Dia then it would surely be very frustrating that they could have saved themselves some money – especially given their current financial situation.
Everton will instead have to look elsewhere to add to their lacklustre attack, while Arnaut Danjuma is set to be the first forward to link up with the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dwight McNeil.