Everton have made contact over a deal for the £10m “electric” winger to replace Nuamah

Everton they have now made contact over a deal to sign the “electric” new wing target, who could be brought in to replace the heavily linked Ernest Nuamah this month, according to the report.

Procrastinating Nuamah Toffees move

Lyon’s Nuamah was one of the Toffees’ main targets during the January transfer window, and at one point it looked like they close to agreement across the linebut since then there has been no progress.

In fact, it now looks like the move will not happen this month, with the Merseyside club likely to have failed to reach an agreement with Lyon.

As such, David Moyes may have to move on to other targets and Everton have now taken the first concrete steps towards signing the Portugal Liga winger.

According to the Caught Offside report, the The Toffees have now made contact with Sporting CP to explore the possibility of signing Marcus Edwardswhich has fallen in the rankings in recent weeks.

Edwards’ poor relationship with manager Rui Borges has led to a lack of playing time, meaning Sporting are now keen to sell him for €12m (£10m) this month, although 35% of that fee will be owed to former club Tottenham Hotspur.

The report also states that Nuamah is unlikely to move to Goodison Park this month, as the move appears to have failed for a second time, with Everton also missing out on his signature last summer.

Edwards could be a better signing than Nuamah

The Sporting winger is likely to be available for a much lower fee than Nuamah, who is reported to be priced at 25 million poundsand there are indications that he could perform better at Goodison Park in the second half of the season.

Although the Englishman has fallen down the pecking order at Sporting this season, he has proven himself over an extended period in the Portuguese League, while the Lyon man is yet to register single goal or assist in Ligue 1 this term.

The 26-year-old has 32 goals and 30 assists to his name in 154 Liga Portugal games, and he was praised as “electric” by members of the media during his time at the Portuguese club.

Nuamah is younger than Edwards, at 21, but otherwise there is no real upside in signing the youngster this month, so it’s by no means the end of the world that Everton look like they’ve missed out.

What’s more, with Edwards available for a fee of just £10m, it’s definitely worth pursuing the winger this month.