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UPDATE 21st July -
While the Lukaku transfer saga might not get resolved for another two weeks, Everton's other targets might be slipping away. The latest on Bacca is that Inter Milan are going to make a £15 million bid for the Colombian. This might be out of Everton's range to begin with, but word is that Inter are strapped for cash themselves and might need to sell Mauro Icardi to obtain the money for this deal.
The latest Premier League scuttlebutt is that Roberto Martinez maintains that Romelu Lukaku is the man he wants to lead his strikeforce in the upcoming season. However, should that permanent transfer not transpire, Everton will be looking at Sevilla's Colombia striker Carlos Bacca.
Bacca had an excellent season in 2013-14 with La Liga side Sevilla, leading them to 5th place in the table and the Europa League trophy, a competition that Everton will be playing in this season. He made a total of 51 appearances for the club, starting in 39 games. Bacca netted 21 times, with 6 assists on 91 shots. In 11 appearances for Colombia, he has scored 3 goals as well.
At 27, Bacca is no youngster, having played in the Colombian league for a number of years before coming over to the continent and playing for Club Brugges and Sevilla. He was nominated for the Belgian Jupiler Pro League Player of the Year in 2012-13. Spanish sports outlet Marca named him as the best signing of the 2013-14 La Liga season. He has just completed the first year of a five-year, €7 million contract, with a €30 million buyout clause.
However, latest media reports state that Sevilla president Jose Castro has set an asking price of €18 million, which is slightly lower than the €25 million that Lukaku is expected to cost, but still much higher than >€10 million, which would be his fair market value. Bacca is a classic no. 9, 5'11" in height and about 170lbs. He doesn't have much in terms of an injury history, though he did miss the group stages of the World Cup with a thigh strain, and only made an appearance against hosts Brazil in the quarter finals, where he won the penalty that enabled Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez to slot his sixth goal of the tournament.