Everton are braced for a third bid from RB Leipzig for Ademola Lookman.
The Bundesliga side have so far had two offers rejected to sign the 20-year-old but are preparing a third bid this week to break the deadlock.
Everton want £20million for the player they paid Charlton Athletic an initial £8million for in January 2017. So far Leipzig have only offered £12m plus add-ons and then £14m plus add-ons, both of which Everton have rejected. But Leipzig are expected to make a third bid this week, which they hope will be close enough to Everton’s valuation to sign the player.
England Under-21 international Lookman spent the second half of last season on loan at Leipzig, impressing with five goals in the Bundesliga, helping the team to qualify for this season’s Europa League. Now Ralf Rangnick, who has returned to manage the team, is desperate to keep Lookman in the Leipzig team for next season, which is why the club are considering meeting Everton’s price tag.
Lookman himself is keen on the permanent move to Germany. He is confident of being part of the first-team at Leipzig while Everton see him as a promising youngster but not necessarily part of the first-team yet, with new manager Marco Silva still assessing his squad. Especially while Everton pursue a move for Bordeaux’s Brazilian winger Malcolm, and are interested in am ambitious move to sign Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace.
Everton signed Lookman from Charlton in the January 2017 window for an initial £8m potentially rising to £11m. But he found first-team opportunities limited under Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce, prompting him to leave on loan in January in pursuit of first-team football. Now that he has found it in Germany, he does not want to give it up.
