Everton had late bid for Spanish youth international left-back rejected

Once the transfer window closes there’s always plenty of these kind of rumours that go around. This one comes from a media source that is not well-known to us and thus we cannot necessarily confirm veracity of the account, but it involves Everton’s vacant left back position and links a player that we had previously been reported as watching closely.

Via SportWitness, Spanish outlet L’Esportiu reported yesterday that the Blues had made a late bid of €20million for Espanyol fullback Aaron Martin. The offer was discussed by the leadership group at the club of the president Chen Yansheng, the sports director Òscar Perarnau, vice president Adolf Rousaud, and manager Quique Sánchez Flores.

Reportedly the former Watford FC boss gave his approval to the player’s departure, but a business decision was made that the Toffees’ offer was too low from the Martin’s €30m release clause, and the bid was rejected outright despite the player already agreeing personal terms and contract with Everton.

WhoScored.com

Espanyol were only looking to sell having hit financial difficulties in recent times - the 20-year-old signed an extension a year ago that’ll see him stay at the Catalan side until the end of the 2021-22 season.

The youngster has 50 career appearances in La Liga, along with 26 youth international caps for Spain, scoring twice for the Under-19s where he played with former Blue Gerard Deulofeu.