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Football

09th Aug 2018

Barcelona duo set for Everton medicals as transfer deadline approaches

Jack O'Toole

Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes and defender Yerry Mina could be set for a Nou Camp exit after reports emerged that the pair are set to undergo medicals before completing moves to Everton.

Mina has been linked heavily with a move to Manchester United this summer but it appears that Jose Mourinho’s side have since moved on to other targets while Gomes looks set for a loan move to Goodison after making just 16 appearances in the league last season after playing 30 matches in La Liga in his first term with the Catalan club.

The acquisition of Mina and Gomes would cap off a busy summer for the Toffees after the club signed midfielder Richarlison from Watford, Lucas Digne from Everton and Bernard from Shaktar Donetsk.

Manager Marco Silva said last week that the club wanted to bolster their defence before the start of the new season and that he really needed to improve his team.

“It is not the best thing to do to wait until the last days but the market is really difficult,” said Silva.

“When we started we knew more or less what were our targets. I know what positions I have to improve and I have started to make more decisions to be sure about everything. But in some positions it was clear in my mind what we needed from the first day.

“Since the first day if I want to put one central defender in the game we don’t have any. Mason Holgate has been injured since the first week of pre-season. We lost others [Ashley Williams]. It is one position and it is easy to understand how many we need in that position. We have to sign new players there.

“It is not easy for us as a club to sign some players because in normal situations they ask a lot of money and also we have to make the right decisions. We have to really improve our squad. It is not important if you change 10 players but if you bring in five or six they need to improve our squad.”