Everton set to rival Liverpool in race for Marseille ace
Published:
Everton will look to add some impetus to their attack in the January transfer window with a swoop on for Marseille ace Andre Ayew.
The Goodison Park outfit will have to battle with city neighbours Liverpool to secure the Ghana international, while Premier League rivals Swansea, Hull and West Ham have also been credited with an interest.
Having run Manchester City close last year, Liverpool may seem the obvious choice but if it is first team football the 24-year-old is after Everton could leap to the front of the queue.
With Steven Pienaar on the decline and Aiden McGeady struggling to live up to hype Ayew should breeze into the team at Everton –providing he takes quickly to the English game – and the plaudits for Roberto Martinez’s style of play will add to the lure.
Ayew has hit 51 goals in 171 career games so far and a front three of him, Romelu Lukaku and a fit again Kevin Mirallas would prepare the Toffees for a strong second half of the season after what has been an iffy start by recent standards.
Everton ended a five-game winless run at the weekend by dismantling Aston Villa 3-0 but the early damage appears to have been done, with the Blue half of Merseyside now priced at a distant 10/1 to finish in the top four.
Burnley, Swansea and Sunderland are next up for Everton and a decent run from what look like winnable games on paper could see those odds tumble.
But, should they struggle over the course of those next three games then Martinez would be left with little option but to bolster his attack and steal a march on his rivals.
And the good news for Toffees fans is that Ayew appears to be willing to run down his current contract in order to secure a free transfer in the summer.
Marseille are unwilling to break through their strict wage structure to keep him at the Stade Velodrome but the £50,000 per week he reportedly craves would be no problem for Everton, who could tempt the Ligue 1 outfit with a cash bid in the winter.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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