Middlesbrough are looking at taking Everton duo Yannick Bolasie and Mohamed Besic on loan this summer and have already held talks about deals for the pair, according to the Northern Echo.
The newspaper claim on their website that the Championship outfit have made the £75,000-a-week forward their number one target, with the winger lined up as a replacement for the departed Adama Traore, who joined Wolves before the end of the permanent transfer window.
With league sides able to make loans until the end of August, it is stated that Bolasie refused a move to Boro earlier in the summer, hoping a top flight side would take him on, but that he is now more open to a temporary move.
As for Besic, the Riverside outfit are said to still be keen on his capture, having failed in negotiations after a change in demands, and as such will only reignite a move if the finances are favourable.
Good move for Everton?
Neither Bolasie nor Besic are going to feature much, if at all, under Marco Silva this season and so shipping them out on loan, or permanently to overseas sides, is absolutely the right thing to be doing.
A wage of £75,000-a-week is a huge drain on resources and getting that sort of money off the wage bill will help the club save funds which can then be reinvested, either in developing things like infrastructure or even in January’s transfer window.
They will be disappointed that neither left on permanent deals to English sides – who have significantly more money than their European rivals – before last week’s deadline, and so this is definitely the next best thing.
This is Futbol rating: 9/10
Likely to happen?
Boro seem keen on taking both of them on but the finances make it a difficult one.
There is no way they are going to splash out to cover Bolasie’s wages in full and so they might well have to come to an agreement where Everton still pay a percentage.
As for Besic, there is probably a sour taste in the club’s mouth after how negotiations went last time, and he might have to get his agents to go grovelling back as the deadline edges closer, or risk being an outcast at Everton for the first half of the season.
This is Futbol rating: 6/10