Everton to rival Crystal Palace over £8.6m signing of Ajax’s Dutch defender Jairo Riedewald
Ronald Koeman makes a move to hijack Crystal Palace's bid for highly-rated defender Jairo Riedewald.
EVERTON has made a move to beat Crystal Palace to the signing of Ajax defender, Jairo Riedewald.
Ronald Koeman came in with a late attempted to lure the Dutchman away from his old Ajax coach Frank de Boer, according to the Liverpool Echo.
Riedewald was heading to Selhurst Park to play again for the coach that gave him his debut at Ajax before the hijack attempt came.
The move to get the young defender could reportedly cost Everton £8.6million.
Last season he was seen as a defensive midfielder for Peter Bosz’s side, but wasn’t used a great deal.
For Everton, the versatile 20-year-old could be an option at left back, centre back or central midfield as a cover for Leighton Baines and Ashley Williams.
He would be added to an already packed new signing list for Everton including Wayne Rooney, Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane, Davy Klaassen and Sandro Ramirez.
Koeman, who is travelling with his team in Tanzania, has targeted Riedewald as a valuable squad player with potential to be a key player in the club’s return to the Europa League.
Rieldewald is a product of the Ajax academy and has made 63 appearances for the club, scoring twice.
He made his debut for the Netherlands in August 2015 and has had three caps.
