Everton appear to have lost out on in their attempts to sign El Bilal Toure from Almeria with Atalanta now reported to have agreed a deal for the striker.
The two clubs were reportedly leading the chase to sign the 21-year-old, with the Italian side in the market to replace Rasmus Hoiland who is the subject of a serious offer from Manchester United.
The Blues have already added versatile forward Arnaut Danjuma but are in the market for more firepower to supplement or cover for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and have done plenty of work to tempt the 21-year-old Toure to Goodison Park.
There are reports that Everton submitted an offer of €40m that was accepted but Atalanta could easily match that if they receive the mooted £80m-plus from United for Hoiland.
They can also offer European football and the prospect of competing at the top end of Serie A but while Kevin Thelwell was hoping to convince Toure that the Premier League offers greater exposure for his nascent career, it seems as though it wasn’t enough to tempt him to Merseyside.
Late this evening, Sky Italia contributor Gianluca DiMarzio is claiming that Atalanta have, indeed, won the race to sign Toure and will sign him for €30m pending a successful medical in the next couple of days.