Premier League Transfer News: Everton set to bid for Barcelona star Malcom
According to the ever so reliable Mohamed Bouhafsi of RMC Sport, Everton are set to make a €35 million offer for Barcelona outcast Malcom.
The Brazilian moved to the Spanish champions last summer from Bordeaux for a reported €40 million fee and with the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho ahead of him in the pecking order, he was limited to a bit-part role at the Camp Nou.
Malcom looked set to move to Roma last summer and even had a medical scheduled in Italy, before Barcelona swooped in and pulled off an eleventh-hour hijack to acquire his services.
Despite finding games hard to come by, Malcom put up commendable performances when he was called upon, registering 4 goals and 2 assists in just over 1000 minutes of football last season.
Barcelona look set to be busy in the transfer market, with the likes of Neymar and Antoine Griezmann on their radar and if one of them were to come in, Malcom would be pushed further down the pecking order and a move away from the Camp Nou could be the most sensible decision to get his career back on track.
According to Bouhafsi's report, Arsenal are said to have held talks with his agent but the player is Marco Silva's priority, having failed to land him last summer.
The Gunners look to have other priorities in the transfer market, with deals for Kieran Tierney and William Saliba on the horizon and it remains unlikely that they'll bid for Malcom. Everton on the other hand have courted the Brazilian for over a year, with Marco Silva a huge fan of the player.
The Merseyside club will look to challenge for a spot in Europe next season and the signing of Malcom would add some much needed quality in attack.
With Richarlison and Bernard already at the club and the likes of Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho playing across the city for Liverpool, Malcom's arrival would add to the Brazilian contingent in Merseyside.
If Everton end up getting their man, he would become the fourth player to move from Barcelona to Everton directly in the past 12 months, after Andre Gomes, Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina.