Everton are in talks again with Southampton over the potential transfer of Ché Adams for a fee and are said to have upped their offer to £15m after having had an initial bid rejected.
Reporter Shamoon Hafez at BBC Sport claimed late on Thursday that the Blues were negotiating with the recently-relegated Saints over a £12m deal to bring the Scot to Goodison Park, a year after they failed to land him in a more expensive deal.
According to The Telegraph and “the Bobble”, Everton have made an improved offer worth up to £15m for the 27-year-old.
Southampton were loathe to lose Adams in the 2022 summer transfer window and were reportedly demanding in excess of £20m for the former Birmingham City man, a price tag that Everton couldn’t meet and they ended up signing Neal Maupay from Brighton instead in the waning days of the window.
Maupay has struggled for goals since signing for the same £12m that the Toffees could end up shelling out for Adams and with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s fitness not yet a given, Director of Football, Kevin Thelwell, is continuing the search for striking options.
At 5′ 9″, Adams isn’t the archetypal Calvert-Lewin replacement that Evertonians were expecting the club to target this summer and his record of a goal every 4½ games on the south coast is inferior to Maupay’s at Brighton, but the former is viewed as a more effective all-round player than the two who will be much better suited to playing the lone striker role.
Should a deal be concluded, Adams would become Everton’s fifth signing of the summer following the arrival of Jack Harrison from Leeds and it could grease the wheels for Maupay’s departure should a suitable offer come in for him.
The Frenchman was close to joining Salernitana in Italy in January but the move collapsed.
Meanwhile, Adams, who scored 10 goals in 35 games in all competitions last season, has netted in both of Southampton’s EFL games so far this season, bagging the winner on the opening day at Sheffield Wednesday and claiming the third in Saints’ 4-4 draw with Norwich last Saturday.
He is in the final 12 months of this contract and while new Southampton boss Russell Martin doesn’t want to lose him, Everton believe their offer is a fair one. However, according to subsequent reports, an opening bid worth up to £12m has been knocked back.