Everton are reportedly interested in a move for Sporting Lisbon and Ghana winger Issahaku Fatawu, which could have negative ramifications for Andros Townsend.
According to reports in Portugal (via Sport Witness), the Toffees have been told they will have to pay £40m to secure the services of the winger in the new year.
The 18-year-old is currently preparing to feature at the World Cup with Ghana this month, and you can assume that Frank Lampard and the Everton hierarchy will be keeping an eye on his progress.
The youth prospect has made just six senior appearances for Sporting this season according to Transfermarkt, but the young man has clearly done enough in those appearances to encourage Everton to potentially make a move in January.
Despite being so young, a fee of £40m would almost force Lampard to make sure the winger gets a fair spell in the senior side immediately, with the club’s hierarchy unlikely to be willing to part with such an extortionate amount of money for a player to develop in the youth team.
One player who may feel disappointed with the latest developments is recovering winger Townsend, who will feel that the signing of Fatawu could hamper his chance of a return to the side when he eventually gets back to full fitness.
The 31-year-old, who has previously been described as “tireless” by podcaster Dan Cook, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in March’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Crystal Palace.
Speaking in September, Townsend said he was prepared to take the “next step” in his road to recovery and may have been targeting a return to the side following the World Cup.
However, with Demarai Gray, Anthony Gordon and Dwight McNeil all being options for Lampard to select out wide, Townsend was going to find life difficult enough in an attempt to get back into the manager’s plans.
However, if a potentially huge signing of Fatawu is on the cards, it would seem unlikely that the experienced wide-man would be seeing a return to action anytime soon, and a potential departure from Goodison Park may be most likely if the transfer does indeed happen in the new year.