Everton join race for Ben Brereton Diaz from Blackburn after shifting Dele Alli with Frank Lampard eyeing £12m transfer
EVERTON have entered the race to sign Blackburn striker Ben Brereton Diaz, according to reports.
The Toffees have launched a formal move for the 23-year-old striker.
claim that they are willing to pay £12million to secure his services.
Everton have just offloaded Dele Alli to Besiktas so there is a space in the squad for another attacking addition.
Alli arrived in Turkey last night to a hero's welcome and the 26-year-old will be hoping to resurrect his career after a poor short-term stay at Goodison Park.
Brereton Diaz has been a target for a number of clubs this summer and French side Nice recently made a bid of £8.4million that was rejected by the Rovers.
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They want to hold out for £15million but with just one-year left on the Chilean international's contract they may be forced to accept a lower offer or risk losing him on a free.
SunSport exclusively reported that to prevent this from happening Blackburn could try to get their star man to sign a new deal at the club.
A new deal would hand him a big pay rise and a fixed figure that they would sell him for if a bid matching their valuation comes in.
However, interest in him this summer continues with the likes of West Ham, Fulham and Sevilla being linked with him earlier this window.
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Brereton Diaz has been at Ewood Park since making the move from Nottingham Forest in 2018.
He enjoyed a fantastic season last time out netting 22 times in 37 matches.
And he has again started this campaign strongly scoring two goals in five games as Blackburn sit 4th in the table.
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Frank Lampard's Everton are desperate to bring in a striker this summer having sold Richarlison to Spurs and Dominic Calvert-Lewin has continuous injury problems.
They have been keen on hijacking Newcastle's bid for Watford striker Joao Pedro and with the Toon moving closer to signing Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad, Everton could have a clearer run at him.