Everton refuse to sanction midfielder’s PSG transfer - for now

It’s no secret that Paris Saint-Germain have been trying to turn Idrissa Gueye’s head for some time now. After inexplicably getting rid of Blaise Matuidi over the summer, the French club are in desperate need of a midfielder who can play some actual defense and isn’t cup-tied in the Champions League.

Thus far, Marcel Brands has easily been able to rebuff approaches for Gueye. Gana is contracted on a long-term basis, and Financial Fair Play restrictions mean that PSG cannot meet Everton’s reported €45m valuation of the player.

Unfortunately, things may be coming to a head anyway, as French outlet Telefoot (via SportWitness) are reporting that Gueye has a contract with PSG all but agreed:

Téléfoot looked at the situation on Sunday, and their information leads them to believe that Everton’s Idrissa Gueye is the ‘best placed’ to make the move to the Ligue 1 champions, but there’s still a lot of negotiating left to do.

The French TV show explained the defensive midfielder was ‘basically in agreement’ with Paris Saint-Germain when it came to his contract, but the Toffees were simply asking for too much.

At €45m, Everton’s supposed price tag is beyond what Thomas Tuchel’s club are prepared to spend in January (believed to be around €25m), leaving them in a bit of a sticky situation.

There very well may be a world in which selling Gueye makes sense for Everton. He’s not getting younger, and Marco Silva clearly appreciates midfielders who can pass the ball.

That being said, almost nobody in world football is as good as Gana is at what he does defensively, and PSG’s current offer is downright insulting given Idrissa’s importance to Everton.

Since the beginning of last (2017-18) season, Everton have played without Gana on 20 occasions. They’ve won just five of those games, with the wins coming against luminaries Rotherham, Sunderland, Lincoln City, Apollon Limassol, and Brighton. The Blues’ overall record when Gueye doesn’t play in the last two years is 5 wins, 11 losses, and 4 draws. If it wasn’t clear before, the numbers don’t lie - Idrissa Gueye makes Everton tick.

If the PSG were able to turn over the couch cushions and get closer to Brands’ requests, this might gain more traction. For now, it’s probably just noise.