Everton face competition in race to sign Gomes

West Ham have reportedly joined the race to sign Andre Gomes from Barcelona this summer.

According to The Times, Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini has made Gomes his ‘priority target’ and made a number of bids, the latest being in the region of £18million.

To say this is out of the left-field would be an understatement.

It was widely thought that Everton would battle with Tottenham for the Portugal midfielder’s signature this summer.

A move to Spurs would be understandable given the club are guaranteed Champions League football next season.

West Ham, like Everton, are not in Europe at all and finished below the Toffees last season, so for Gomes to choose the Hammers above the other two contenders doesn’t make much sense.

Then there is the fee. £18million sounds remarkably low given Gomes cost Barca around £31million in 2016 and they will be looking to recoup as much as that as possible.

But, rumour or not, it is another warning to Everton that if they want to sign Gomes permanently they need to do so sooner rather than later as the list of clubs interested in his services is only likely to get bigger.