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Everton in pole position to land Italy star ahead of Inter Milan: A sensational coup?

Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly preparing to launch a bid for Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Everton in pole position to land Italy star ahead of Inter Milan: A sensational coup?

Bengaluru, March 19: Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly preparing to launch a bid for Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini.

The midfielder had been in negotiations over extending his contract, which is due to expire in 2022, but reportedly talks have touched a deadlock.

The Italy international was ready to extend his stay at Roma and reportedly had asked the club for a substantial increase in wages which would see him earn £3.2m a season - £1.4m more than he is currently on while removing his current release clause - which is set at a modest £27m.

But with AS Roma still to match the demands it reportedly has opened the door for Everton to take advantage.

Everton reportedly have been closely monitoring the situation of the player and now could take advantage of the situation by offering the player his desired terms as well triggering the said release clause.

The midfielder has been one of the finest players in Serie A for the last two years. He although was on a dry run in the last couple of games recently but still has managed to produce three goals and 11 assists in 24 matches which shows his growing influence in the Roma starting XI.

Last year the midfielder had attracted interest from Manchester United, Chelsea and Juventus but those clubs have since distanced themselves. However, Everton's pursuit could be challenged by another Serie A side, Inter Milan, who reportedly also are interested in taking advantage of his release clause.

Why he is a better fit at Everton and could be a bargain signing

Part of the Everton's arrangement to designate Ancelotti was his strong reputation with football's top talent and Everton's link-up with such promising names is the effect of it.

Everton although have improved leaps and bound under Ancelotti but very often they have lacked the compactness and spark in the midfield. Ancelotti surely needs to bring in reinforcements into the middle of the park sooner than later.

Everton have lacked any sort of attacking bite trying to move the ball through midfield and even controlling the tempo of the game. The midfield of Gylfi Sigurdson, Tom Davies, Fabian Delph or Morgan Schneiderlin has not assured the Italian.

At such moment a midfield addition looks to be necessary and Pellegrini could be that exact resolution. His addition will not only add some much-needed creativity to Carlo Ancelotti’s midfield but also his often long-range efforts make him an exciting fit for the Merseyside club.

He has averaged 2.9 key passes, 2.7 shots, and 1.3 dribbles offensively while making an average of 1.1 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and 0.6 clearances in defensive third per game in Serie A (as per whoscored) which appears to be quite impressive.

At 23-year of age, the Italian is slowly moving onto his prime age and surely playing under one of the best managers of World football could help him grow further.

Pellegrini's current release clause stands at £31 million and given his talent and age, this could be a bargain if Ancelotti can pull it off. Another factor that could work in favour of Everton ahead of Inter is their promise of more first-team action.

Inter already have plenty of options in the middle of park, therefore, Ancelotti could hope that guaranteed first-team leverage could be enough to lure the player to Premier League.

Story first published: Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 20:21 [IST]
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