Everton want Celtic star Moussa Dembele as £30million replacement for Romelu Lukaku
The Toffees are looking to Parkhead and Dembele as a direct replacement for the outgoing Romelu Lukaku this summer
EVERTON are ready to smash their transfer record with a bid in excess of £30m to land Moussa Dembele as a direct replacement for Romelu Lukaku.
The big-spending Goodison Park outfit shelled out £25m plus £5m add-ons for goalkeeper Jordan Pickford last week.
But boss Ronald Koeman, who also spent £23.6m on Dutch international Davy Klaassen, is ready to cough up even more to get Dembele on board.
Everton will have the funds to compete with a host of top European clubs chasing the 20-year-old Hoops hitman.
Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan have all expressed an interest in the French Under 21 international.
However, Koeman is hoping the lure of regular first team football on Merseyside will help give them an edge during any potential talks.
Most read in football
Moussa Dembele factfile
- Moussa Dembele, 20, was born in Pontoise, France in July 1996.
- He came through the Paris St-Germain academy as a striker before he was signed by Fulham aged 16.
- Dembele made his debut against West Ham in November 2013, aged 17.
- He played 56 games for Fulham, scoring 15 goals.
- Tottenham were keen to sign him in January 2016 but a deal for £6million fell through at the last minute.
- Dembele joined Celtic in June 2016 for just £500,000 as a training compensation fee.
- The French striker scored 32 goals for Celtic last season, including back-to-back hat-tricks.
- He has been capped six times by France U-21s but has yet to play for the full international side.
Celtic would prefer to keep Dembele in Scotland for at least another season although they would find it almost impossible to turn down £30m given they paid Fulham just £400,000 for the player 12 months ago.
Last summer Dembele’s agent and mentor Momadi Fofana persuaded him to move north when there were a number of more lucrative offers on the table.
Fofana has a firm belief in helping his client develop as a footballer rather than take the biggest cheque dangled in front of them.
