Everton are yet to submit an official offer for the permanent signing of on-loan midfielder Andre Gomes with Marcel Brands set to travel to Barcelona for talks, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The Spanish news outlet claims that despite the Toffees wanting to sign 29-cap Portuguese international Gomes, they are yet to make a genuine move for the Barcelona loan star.
However, the good news from an Everton perspective is that no other clubs have come in for the Portugal international. His fine form at Goodison Park will have undoubtedly attracted interest from outside Merseyside.
Barcelona are now said to be awaiting the decision of Toffees director of football Marcel Brands in regards to the future of the 25-year-old, with the Dutchman reportedly set to travel to Spain to hold crunch discussions.
OPINION
This is interesting. You would have assumed that Everton would have submitted a preliminary offer for Gomes just to test the water and see where the land lies in regards to a permanent deal for the Portuguese star. There’s no doubt that the Toffees will want Gomes to stay on a permanent basis, and you would have imagined that they’d like to get cracking on a deal for him before any rivals clubs get involved. He is a tremendous player and has, by and large, enjoyed a fantastic season on Merseyside so hopefully the club get on with it and begin negotiations soon. Brands will surely be gearing up to make a move in the near future as Barcelona are apparently waiting on him. It’s unlikely that Gomes has any future in Catalonia so the only real option for him is to move on in the summer. What destination could be better for him than the place where he’s enjoyed a return to form this campaign? Still, let’s wait and see what Everton do with this one.