Report claims Lille are sticking to asking price for long-term Everton target Gabriel

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Everton fans have been getting increasingly anxious regarding the club’s seemingly done deal for Lille defender Gabriel Magalhaes. 

The Lille defender is, according to reports this side of the Channel, all set to join Everton in the summer. As reported by The Guardian, Everton now expect to make the centre-back Carlo Ancelotti’s first signing, with the 22-year-old set to arrive for a £30 million fee. 

Since those reports did the rounds there has been nothing official from Everton or Lille regarding Gabriel and other teams, such as Chelsea and Napoli, have been mentioned as snooping around the Brazilian star. 

Now a report from Goal in Brazil has shed some light on the situation. 

They claim that no deal is yet done and that Lille are not receptive to the idea of any potential reduction in his asking price because of the current global health crisis. 

Instead, they claim that the French side is adamant on receiving their full valuation of the player, which is in the region of €30 million (£26.8m). 

Everton fans are undoubtedly hoping they can win the race for the highly-rated Brazilian defender. 

For a while, it seemed like a done deal and the Goal report does claim contact has been made. But once again it seems the reports of a done deal were slightly premature. 

Everton will have to pay full price and thwart the interest of other parties before they can finally confirm this much-touted future signing.