Everton made an offer to Napoli for midfielder Allan in January, according to Corriere dello Sport journalist Fabio Mandarini, as reported by Arena Napoli (and translated by Sport Witness).
Allan was frequently linked with a move to Merseyside last month, with Il Mattino reporting that the Brazil international was hoping that the Blues would sign him.
Ultimately, nothing materialised though, with Everton not signing any senior players during the winter window. However, if Mandarini is to be believed, it wasn’t for their lack of trying.
Mandarini, talking to TeleVomero (via Arena Napoli), explained that while Allan will almost certainly leave in the summer, he almost did in January, with Everton having made an offer to the Partenopei.
Mandarini said:
Allan will surely go away next summer.
He could have already left last January, Ancelotti’s Everton wanted to take him to the Premier League, they had made an offer to Napoli.
Napoli lost Allan last year when he didn’t let him go to PSG. When the renewal talks go on for so long, it means that something is wrong.
Corriere del Mezzogiorno meanwhile, as relayed by Sports Mole, claim that Everton have recently made another offer for the 29-year old, having launched a £17million bid for the midfielder, which would see him move to Goodison Park in the summer if accepted.
However, the report claims that Napoli want double that amount.
Allan, who Transfermarkt currently value at £45million, hasn’t played in any of Napoli’s last three Serie A games, remaining on the bench for two and being left out of the squad for the other, indicating that he has fallen out of favour under Gennaro Gattuso.
Everton meanwhile will likely be on the lookout for a new engine man in the summer, with Fabian Delph having largely failed to impress for the Blues this season.
Could that make Allan the ideal candidate for Carlo Ancelotti?
With the Brazilian having previous experience playing underneath the Italian, Everton may feel that they have a greater chance at landing the Napoli general. However, whether Everton should spend the amount Napoli will likely demand is a different debate.
If Aurelio De Laurentiis does demand upwards of £30million for Allan, then Everton should surely feel like they can do better, with Allan’s age indicating that Everton may not receive any financial benefit from his sale in the future.
In terms of Allan’s play-style, he could suit Ancelotti’s system well. He is a powerful unit who likes to tackle, move with the ball and get a shot off from distance, and he could add genuine threat from deep, something which Everton don’t currently have in midfield.
However, with Financial Fair Play hanging over Everton’s head right now, we feel as if the club could do better with their funds unless Napoli were to unexpectedly drop their asking price.
