Everton have agreed to sign Yannick Bolasie from Crystal Palace on a £30m deal, according to reports from Sky Sports. The report claims that Bolasie will be an Everton player in next 48 hours and is waiting for permission from Palace to complete his Merseyside medical.
The 27-year-old scored 6 goals last season and was one of the better performers for Alan Pardew's side. Bolasie joined Palace back in 2012 and helped them win promotion to Premier League in his debut season. Since then Bolasie has been a regular feature at Selhurst Park with his dribbling and trickery on the ball.
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Bolasie is set to become Everton’s most expensive signing of all time, surpassing the £28m fee the Toffees paid for Romelu Lukaku back in 2014. New manager Ronald Koeman is looking to re-shape the squad at Goodison Park which saw him complete Ashley Williams’ transfer from Swansea for a £12million fee.
Koeman is also linked with Sunderland’s Lamine Kone as he looks to strengthen Everton’s defence following John Stones’ departure to Manchester City.
As for Palace, they are expecting to launch a renewed bid for Liverpool striker Christian Benteke. The Belgian striker was tipped to join Palace earlier his summer but the Reds turned down a £32.5million offer from Alan Pardew.
Since then, there have been no new bids for Benteke, which has got Liverpool frustrated as they clearly want to sell the striker, after Jurgen Klopp refused to feature Benteke in his pre-season plans.
Bolasie’s sale would enable Palace to meet Liverpool’s asking price which time again has been quoted near the £30million mark.
Why Palace are better off without Bolasie?
For all his tricks and dribbles, Bolasie’s impact on Crystal Palace has gone down in recent seasons. His goal count has dropped and he is not the same player from a few seasons ago. In Andros Townsend, Pardew has already signed Bolasie’s replacement.
This double deal makes sense for Palace as they are in desperate need to bring a goal scorer to Selhurst Park. Despite Benteke’s horrible time at Anfield his goal scoring prowess is still intact. Given proper service, he can still score 15-20 league goals in a season, which would be a blessing for Palace who are expected to be dragged into a relegation scrap next season.
