Silva raids Barcelona
EVERTON SPLASH CASH BEFORE WINDOW SLAMS SHUT
EVERTON pushed their summer spending to almost £90million with a deadline-day dash to land three new signings.
The Toffees brokered late deals for Barcelona pair Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes and also put the final touches to the free transfer of Brazil winger Bernard.
On a dramatic day at Goodison Park, they were also trying to wrap up a loan move for Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma.
Manager Marco Silva has been chasing Colombia defender Mina since his impressive World Cup displays and he finally got his man when Barcelona accepted a £28.5m bid.
Mina, who penned a five-year contract, said: “It is important that the club want to fight for something. This is why I am here.
“I have spoken a lot to the coach and I know his passion for Everton and determination to be successful. I am also determined to do my best.”
Silva said: “Mina is a quality player, a good defender, strong in the challenge and in the duels. He has good knowledge of the position and is good on the ball.
“He will also be very strong at defensive and offensive set-pieces.”
Portuguese midfielder Gomes, right, was offered to Everton during the Mina talks and they
snapped him up on a season-long loan for £2m.
Gomes said: “Everton always was a big option for me, especially after speaking with the coach.
“Every discussion we’ve had was very important in making me feel his confidence about my game.”
Both players underwent medicals in Barcelona and will fly to Liverpool today to meet their new team-mates ahead of Everton’s Premier League opener against Wolves tomorrow.
The pair join Lucas Digne in making the move from Barcelona to Everton after the France full-back completed an £18m move last week. Everton had to put in a deal sheet just before the deadline to buy themselves more time in their attempt to complete a seasonlong loan for Chelsea’s Zouma last night. The Toffees had already spent £40m to bring Brazilian winger Richarlison in from Watford last month. And Bernard, left, was confirmed by the club yesterday after a deal was struck earlier in the week. The attacking midfielder left Shakhtar Donetsk this summer when his contract ran out. West Ham and both Milan clubs were interested but Bernard said: “I chose Everton because of all the things I’d heard about Marco Silva.”