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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, Rennes forward Ismaila Sarr is a name on Everton’s list should they decide to abandon their pursuit of Crystal Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha.
What’s the word, then?
Well, after a £50m + Cenk Tosun bid was rejected by the Eagles, Nixon tweeted that he wonders if the Toffees will look elsewhere now – it is the third bid the Merseysiders have had rebuffed for the Ivorian after offers of £52m and £70m + Tosun and James McCarthy were turned down.
The 26-year-old winger has handed in a transfer request in a bid to make the move happen before the deadline, although there have been no developments since then.
Should Palace continue to stand firm amidst the transfer saga, then a move for Sarr could materialise based on Nixon’s report.
Should definitely target Sarr over Zaha
It feels as if Everton have been following a blind path in their pursuit of Zaha.
The south Londoners have rejected offer after offer, and another report states that the Toffees’s next offer could be as high as £70m + Tosun on a permanent switch instead of a loan as initially suggested – The Turk cost the club £27m from Besiktas alone, so would edge the total deal closer to £100m.
£100m for a forward with 10 goals last season seems particularly steep, to say the least.
Check out some amazing tekkers in the video below…
In Sarr’s case, the Senegal international is five years younger than Zaha and has shown plenty of promise throughout his career already – the 21-year-old notched 12 goals and eight assists in Ligue 1 and the Europa League last term, and netted at the Africa Cup of Nations whilst helping Senegal to the final.
Zaha has never netted 12 goals in a single season across his career, and with Sarr reportedly having a price tag of £35m – £40m on his head, the Rennes star would represent a significantly cheaper option than the Palace forward as well as one with much more time on his side to develop.
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