Bidding war to ensue for backup Everton defender?

06/26/2024 03:45 PM

Ben Godfrey appears to be in demand all of a sudden with Atalanta and Lyon both interested

Everton it appears still needs to move out at least one or two players before the end of the financial year on June 30th to ensure they remain compliant with the draconian Premier League Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR).

To that end, there was some interest in Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Newcastle United but that appears to have died down partly because of the £37 million pricetag Everton supposedly put on him, despite the striker entering the last month of his current contract.

Now there's a new player that could be on the move, and it's backup defender Ben Godfrey. The 26-year-old has largely failed to build on the potential that he came to the Blues with, and appears to have run his course on Merseyside.

Versatile enough to play both fullback and centrehalf, he tends to do neither very well as he often gets caught ball-watching and results in being out of position when an opponent receives the ball. At times he has been able to make up for that with his speed, but since going down with what was rumoured to be an extended bout of COVID, he's been unable to do that too well either.

Limited in attack to horsing down the field and then booting the ball into a crowded box, Godfrey is the ultimate backup — serviceable, but not irreplaceable — having featured 16 times for the Blues last season without a goal or an assist with 11 of those games at right back.

The Blues have reportedly slapped a £15m pricetag on him with The Athletic's David Ornstein reporting that at least one club is interested in him even at that price point and the knowledge that he has only year left on his current contract. Update: Other sources now indicate that the other side is Olympique Lyon, and they've bid £10m for Godfrey.

He goes on to add that Serie A side and current Europa League champions Atalanta have tabled a €10m (£8.5m) offer for the player. In fact, Everton insider The Bobble goes on to say that the offer is actually for up to £10m, which one assumes includes add-ons and other performance-related bonuses.

Given how perilously close Everton are to violating PSR and likely facing another points deduction next season, they might not be able to wait too long before pulling the trigger on this sale. More to come on this.