‘Could cost even less’ – Everton and Crystal Palace players targeted for bargain deals

AS Roma are considering moves for Everton defender Ben Godfrey or Crystal Palace’s Rob Holding as they eye cheap options to help temporarily bolster Jose Mourinho’s defensive options.

That’s according to Corriere dello Sport, who again cover how director of football Tiago Pinto has his eyes on the Premier League as he looks for a cheap option.

A report from Italy yesterday explained how Pinto was looking at Godfrey as a potential option, believing his lack of game time at Everton could make him an ideal player to target and, crucially, cheap.

That’s because he is currently limited by a lack of funds at the Italian club, with just €1.5m to spend between a potential transfer or loan fee and covering any player’s wages.

Corriere double down on that today and say the same, explaining that the idea had been to target a move for Leonardo Bonucci, who would have been cheap, but that’s been discarded and so Pinto is now eyeing the Premier League instead.

Everton’s Ben Godfrey is on the list alongside Crystal Palace’s Rob Holding, with the latter’s failure to make an appearance in the Premier League this season seen as a bonus and something which would mean he ‘could cost even less’.

Eric Dier, who has also been mooted as an option for months, is also a name to be taken into consideration but that’s only if Spurs can complete a deal for Radu Dragusin and no other suitors move for him.

The focus now is instead on the Everton and Crystal Palace men and the potential of getting a remarkably cheap deal, presumably until the end of the season.

Whether there’s any confidence on that front isn’t mentioned but getting either player for less than €1.5m or even just on that figure would be a hard ask.

Indeed, the notion that Everton or Crystal Palace would sanction such a deal, weakening themselves for no gain whatsoever, seems a little farfetched and perhaps even delusional, but the January transfer window is a strange beast that can often make a mockery of such sense.