Report: Everton outbids Ajax for Steven Bergwijn

Everton has been in Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer news a lot lately, mostly because Spurs have been strongly linked with a move for the Toffees’ Brazilian forward Richarlison and (as of yesterday) Anthony Gordon. But if news out of the Netherlands are any indication, there’s another reason as well — Everton are reportedly interested in Steven Bergwijn, and according to Mike Verweiij in De Telegraaf they’ve suggested a higher transfer fee than Ajax.

We’ve all just basically assumed that Stevie would be returning to his home country to play for Ajax next season. That’s mostly because Ajax was not only the most likely destination for Bergwijn, but also the only club that had shown real, concrete interest in him. But the reason Spurs hadn’t already agreed to send Stevie home is because Ajax had been negotiating with Spurs, and hadn’t really offered anything close to what Tottenham wanted as a fee.

According to Verweij, Everton have not only submitted an offer that’s closer to Tottenham’s valuation, and have beaten Ajax on personal wages. Verweij disputes the claims in the English media yesterday that said that Spurs had offered Stevie to Everton as a makeweight for Richarlison, and that their interest in Bergwijn has been known for weeks now. But Stevie’s first choice is to return to the Netherlands, and that (combined with Bergwijn’s post-international match vacation) could be why we haven’t seen a ton of movement over the past few days and weeks.

I’m not sure where this leads quite yet, but what I’m fairly confident of is that this is good news for Spurs. Ajax may come back and match Everton’s offer, or they may back away and let Everton try and convince Bergwijn that his place is in Merseyside. Either way, this benefits Tottenham as it’s likely it’ll result in a better deal. And if he ends up going to Everton, that, practically speaking, means less of a net outlay for Richarlison.

Interestingly, Verweij also notes that Bergwijn is being tracked by both Manchester United and Newcastle. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to either of those clubs being options.