Everton have found themselves in this position before.
When a player on their radar ends up not heading to Goodison Park but, instead, to Merseyside rivals Liverpool.
Everton, according to Fabrizio Romano, were ‘confident’ about tying up a deal for the then-FC Porto flyer Luis Diaz before their Stanley Park neighbours shoved a red shirt around the Colombian’s neck.
The Sun, meanwhile, reported that Xherdan Shaqiri was an Everton target too before he – alongside Divock Origi – secured their place in Liverpool folklore by firing Jurgen Klopp’s side to that famous victory over Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League semi-finals.
A penny for Pavel Kucherov’s thoughts, then, as Liverpool install Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin as a potential replacement for Alisson Becker should the lure of those Saudi Arabian millions prove impossible to ignore.
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Everton could have signed Liverpool target Andriy Lunin
HITC understands that Lunin is on Liverpool’s list of goalkeeping targets this summer, alongside Arne Slot’s former Feyenoord glovesman Justin Bijlow.
Should the Ukrainian shot-stopper end up making that switch from Madrid to Merseyside, his arrival in England’s north west would come six years too late as far as former Toffees scout Pavel Kucherov is concerned.
“I also strongly recommended Lunin to Arsenal and Everton when he played for Dnipro,” Kucherov would explain to Ukrainian publication FanDay. “I said that such a cool guy must be signed. As you can see, I wasn’t mistaken. Now, he is at Real Madrid.”
“(Everton) did not want to sign Lunin because he was young.”
You can add this, then, to the ever-growing list of blunders made by Everton during the disastrous Farhad Moshiri era.
A time when The Toffees splashed out obscene sums on substantially overpriced players while ignoring potential bargains such as Luis Diaz, Denzel Dumfries, and a goalkeeper who ended the 2023/24 campaign with both a La Liga and Champions League winners’ medal taking pride and place in his personal collection.
A Champions League and La Liga winner in 2024
“Lunin has helped a lot with a fantastic season,” Real’s former Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti said after the long-serving back-up proved his number one capabilities with stand-out displays against the likes of Manchester City en route to a 14th European crown, via Managing Madrid.
By Ancelotti’s own admission, however, dropping Lunin for the eventual Champions League decider over Borussia Dortmund was a decision he felt he had to make. Harsh though it most certainly was, the returning Courtois – he explained – was the ‘best goalkeeper in the world’ for a reason.
One suspects that call will not have gone down too well with Lunin’s camp. Real have already been warned, via the goalkeeper’s wife no less, that he will not be simply content to remain second choice when Courtois is fit and available.
“If there is a club that will let him play, I think we will leave,” Lunin’s partner wrote on Instagram, via Madrid Xtra, a few months back.
“If there is a club where he will be allowed to play, then of course we are ready to move.”
Worry not, Liverpool fans, HITC understands that Alisson is not pushing for a move to the Middle East. But should the Brazilian have a change of heart – leaving the number one jersey open for another to claim – then Lunin may be all ears.
The post Everton ignored chance to sign Champions League winner who may now join Liverpool appeared first on HITC.
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