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Everton turned down the opportunity to sign Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and Real Madrid defender Eder Militao, according to reports.
Everton were reportedly offered the chance to sign Guimaraes for £16m as he was leaving Athletico Paranaense, but the Merseyside club “didn’t like it” and opted for Jean-Philippe Gbamin instead.
The Toffees also had the opportunity to sign Militao when he was leaving his first club, Sao Paulo FC. However, they rejected the defender and he joined Portuguese side Porto in his place.
Kia Joorabchian (above) has revealed which players Everton have refused to sign
It was super agent Kia Joorabchian who revealed how Everton had turned down the chance to sign several high-profile players.
Joorabchian’s comments came shortly after Jamie Carragher criticized him for his involvement with Everton following the sacking of Frank Lampard.
The 51-year-old insisted he was barely involved with the Merseyside club and was mostly ignored when scouting for potential players.
speaking to talk sportJoorabchian said: ‘Of course, as we do, we offered him many, many players, and they turned them all down,’ Joorabchian told talkSPORT.
Everton were reportedly offered the chance to sign Guimaraes for £16 million as he was leaving Athletico Paranaense, but they “didn’t like it”.
The Toffees also had the opportunity to sign Militao (left) when he was leaving his first club, signing for Portuguese side Porto instead.
“All the signings of the summer: James Tarkowski, Conor Coady, Neal Maupay, Dwight McNeil, the list goes on, all the loans and signings that [Everton] they did – were done purely by them and the board.
‘We had no involvement at all. We talk to all the owners, I talk to quite a few club owners [in the Premier League], but the point is, what is our job? Our job is to present what we have as a client list and say, this is what we have.
And Everton have not followed any of our advice. So we can’t be that influential. In the past, we have offered Bruno Guimaraes for £16m when he was leaving Athletico Paranaense. They did not like him and they went for Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Guimaraes went to Lyon.
Frank Lampard (left) was sacked as Everton manager after a poor run
‘When Diego Carlos was leaving Nantes, we offered him [to Everton] to 11 million pounds before going to Sevilla and is now at Aston Villa. We offered them Eder Militao when he was leaving [first club Sao Paulo in Brazil, before he joined Porto – now he’s staring at Real Madrid].’
Joorabchian’s comments come shortly after Carragher criticized him for being too involved in the club.
“I have said it before, Everton is the worst club in the country,” he said. I’m not saying this as a former Liverpool player, I’m saying this as a former Everton fan. Why do all Everton managers fail?
‘You’ve had a promising young English manager, a Champions League winner in Rafa Benítez, Marco Silva. But there’s a big divide between (Farhad) Moshiri and Bill Kenwright. What is Kenwright’s role in the soccer club?
Joorabchian’s comments came after Carragher criticized him for his involvement with Everton.
“Everton board issued a statement before the Southampton game saying there were threats, that’s out of place, but board should have been at the game.” The statement they issued was misplaced. He demonized the entire fanbase.
“You don’t do that, especially in the city we’re from, in Liverpool you support your loved ones, whether it’s your family or your football club.” Those followers kept them last year. Until the board changes, I don’t see the fans going sideways again. They have no idea which way they are going.
Meanwhile, Gary Neville echoed Carragher’s views, criticizing the board for allowing ‘failure years’ at the club, despite the money invested in the team.
He pointed to the size of the club compared to other Premier League teams, insisting they shouldn’t be anywhere near the trouble they are in.
Gary Neville criticized the Toffees for their management of the club in recent years.
He said: ‘I look at Everton, even two or three years ago, they were cleaning up the science department. They were blaming the soldiers instead of the generals.
‘I say they are a team to watch every year, you always think they are going to do well with the money they have spent. If you have seven, eight, nine years of failure, you have to stop looking at the football field and start looking above them.
“Everton are equal to Chelsea and City in terms of scale and size.”