Everton failed with last-ditch Yarmonlenko bid

Lyndon Lloyd | Monday, 05 September 2016

0 Comment [Jump to last]

Dynamo Kiev's president claims that he turned down a bid from the Blues in the final couple of hours of the transfer window because it was too late to get the paperwork finalised.

Igor Surkis, who has flip-flopped in the past on whether or not he believes Goodison Park would be a suitable destination for his star player, announced late last week that he received an acceptable offer for Yarmolenko from Everton and indicates he would have sanctioned the move had the player wanted it and it had been submitted earlier.

"Everton submitted a bid for Yarmolenko 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to the deadline," Surkis is quoted as saying. "I was satisfied with the transfer price but we did not have time to even draw up a contract.

"Transfer bids cannot be submitted that late. I was satisfied with the offer as long as Andriy was."

Yarmolenko was the subject of an on-off transfer saga last summer and looked set to join Everton in a £14.5m deal before Surkis put the breaks on the deal so as to keep the winger for Dynamo's Champions League campaign.

Talk of reviving the deal surfaced in January but by then Surkis had, based on his comments, deemed Everton too small a club for Yarmolenko and his European aims.

About these ads