Premier League side Everton had a loan bid for Santos defender Lucas Verissimo rejected, as reported on UOL.
The report states that the club president wants to sell the centre-back on a permanent basis so he can improve the financial situation of the Brazilian side.
Brazilian news outlet Lance report that Santos will be willing to listen to offers starting from as little as £8.5m.
Verissimo boasts some impressive stats, having an 87.7% pass success rate and winning an average of 4.7 aerial duels per match.
This is better than Yerry Mina, who, in the Premier League so far this season, has an 83.4% pass completion rate and 3.8 aerial duel success per match.
Mason Holgate has a completion rate of 81% and 1.7 aerial duel success per game, whilst Michael Keane has 80.4% pass completion and 4.2 aerials per match.
READ EVERTON VERDICT
The report also highlights that there are several other sides from Europe that are keen to secure the signature of the 24-year-old.
That means that the Toffees will need to be swift in their negotiations or else could risk losing out on the Brazilian.
I believe that Verissimo, at that price, would be a perfect addition to the Everton squad. Why? Because as his statistics show, he’s brilliant with the ball at his feet and also dominant in the air.
Also, Carlo Ancelotti only has three proper centre-backs at the moment, so bringing in Verissimo will give him some much-needed depth in that position.
