Andre Gomes Rejects West Ham Move With Everton Frontrunners for His Signature

?Andre Gomes has opened the door for Everton to sign him permanently after rejecting the opportunity to join fellow top-flight side West Ham.

The Portuguese midfielder moved to Merseyside last summer on a season-long loan deal from Barcelona, with the Catalan outfit keen to offload the former Valencia man.

?West Ham had registered an interest in Gomes, going as far as offering £20m for the 25-year-old, however, the player has indicated his desire to remain at ?Everton after turning down the Hammers’ approach, state the ?Daily Mail. 

In order for the Toffees to secure the player, they will have to cough up in the region of £30m, while Tottenham’s interest in Gomes is likely to result in a bid of some sort.

Since recovering from injury to feature for the first team, Gomes enjoyed an encouraging first season at Goodison Park, making 27 appearances in the ?Premier League.

Should Marco Silva’s side move for the Portuguese international, he could become their first signing of the summer, with only departures taking place for Everton so far. 

Club captain Phil Jagielka has been released while many more are expected to follow, as director of football Marcel Brands looks to axe up to 20 players from the squad.

The club are facing something of a crisis in up front at present, with Cenk Tosun damaging his knee ligaments playing for Turkey and unlikely to be ready for the beginning of the campaign.

Furthermore, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will also miss the start of pre-season, after heading off with the England Under-21 squad for the European Championships. Therefore, it leaves Oumar Niasse as the sole fit central striker for pre-season, with Everton keen to offload Senegalese striker for the right price.

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