Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi has had the chance to join Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco rejected by the west London club as they would rather cash in on the Belgium international this month.
The 25-year-old is currently out on loan with Valencia in Spain, but Los Murciélagos are happy for Batshuayi to leave the club as he's failed to make the sort of impact that he did when he joined Borussia Dortmund last season.
Despite agreeing terms with Batshuayi and Valencia, Monaco's vice-president Vadim Vasilyev claims that the move appears to be dead in the water after having it blocked by the forward's parent club, Chelsea.
"We have an agreement with the player. We have an agreement with Valencia," Vasilyev said, quoted by ESPN. "For the time being, it [move] has been blocked by Chelsea because they prefer to sell the player."
One team who have declared in interest in signing Batshuayi is Everton, but Marco Silva's side would be forced to buying the striker outright as they already have Kurt Zouma in on loan from Stamford Bridge.
▶ Everton
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▶ Palace
▶ Fulham
Where will Batshuayi be playing soon? 🤔 https://t.co/qvk2CwJYqz
Alternatively, the Telegraph explains, Everton could sign Zouma permanently and bring in Batshuayi in for the rest of the season with an option to make that move permanent in the summer, an option that wasn't going to be part of his move to Monaco.
Everton are currently relying heavily on the form and fitness of Richarlison as the spearhead of their attack, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun are being brought into the squad when the Brazilian needs a rest.
Batshuayi would bring Everton a new type of striker and give head coach Silva more options in the final third, but it appeared that the Belgian was keen on linking back up with former coach Thierry Henry at Monaco and it could take some convincing to bring him to Goodison Park.
Source : 90min