Report: Tottenham could offer Harry Winks AND Lucas Moura as Richarlison makeweights

Whether or not Tottenham Hotspur is going to make a formal bid for Everton’s Richarlison is the matter of some debate. However, their interest in the Brazilian forward is very, very much unquestionable. Richarlison is apparently quite high up on Fabio Paratici’s list of quality attacking talent, and considering Everton are coming off of a poor season that nearly saw them relegated and are unlikely to be rocketing back up the table soon, this is a rumor that could be percolating for a while.

That said, Everton are not going to make it easy on Spurs to pry their best player out of Merseyside. Some reports have suggested Everton is asking for a bid of as much as £70m, while other reports have said somewhere north of £50m would do the trick. That’s a lot of cash, but according to Matt Law in the Telegraph, Spurs may try and test their resolve by using both Harry Winks AND Lucas Moura as potential makeweights.

Regardless of a proposed takeover, Lampard is hoping to sign as many as five new players this summer. James Tarkowski has agreed a free transfer move after his Burnley contract expired and there is interest in Chelsea midfielders Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour, as well as Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Winks.

Spurs are prepared to offer Winks and Lucas Moura as part of an offer to sign Richarlison, who Everton value at well over £50m.

OK, so that sounds kind of ridiculous on its face, right? And truth be told there’s not a lot to go on in this particular rumor. Law sticks this little tidbit right at the end of a long article in the Telegraph (£) about Everton potentially being up for sale, and generally speaking those kinds of little tidbits at the ends of articles are NOT the author burying the lede. So we should be super skeptical about this report.

On the other hand, what if it’s true? This tells us a couple of things, primarily that Tottenham are content to let either or both go to a Premier League rival, and also doesn’t value Winks and Moura together at £70m. That also begs the question of, if Everton accepted, how much Spurs would need to pay in addition to Lucas and Winks to make this an equitable deal. Lucas, Winks and £10m? Lucas, Winks and £25m? Should there be a “dribbled past” clause? All questions we need answered.

Honestly, Everton seems like precisely the kind of club that could end up being a landing spot for Winks and/or Lucas if either of them depart. And if I’m honest, there’s a chance that both could be decent to good in that system.

There’s also a decent chance, considering the current state of Everton Football Club, that they would not be good. But don’t tell anyone from Everton that.