Frank Lampard has told Chelsea that it is too late to sign Anthony Gordon and that the winger is staying at Goodison Park.
Chelsea submitted one offer for Gordon and the Everton manager had set his former club a deadline to put in an improved bid for the 21-year-old and it has passed.
Asked if he would consider doing business now, he replied: “No, Anthony is too important a player. It is too late.”
Lampard, who had always wanted to keep Gordon, has been delighted with his attitude and performances after he scored in Everton’s draws with Brentford and Leeds.
He declared he is “very confident” Gordon will stay, adding: “You saw the reasons why in the last two games, He is a very good player and will get better and better. In the bigger picture, he has an affiliation with the fans. The interest in him is because he is a top player and why we are so keen to keep him.”
Lampard also said Everton are “getting closer” to re-signing Idrissa Gueye from Paris Saint-Germain, explaining: “We are hopeful it will happen.”
Everton could move for another forward in the last 48 hours of the transfer window, with Lampard saying: “We will see. We are not desperate.”
Lampard has bought Neal Maupay but he was unable to make his debut at Elland Road as, despite being registered with the Premier League at 4pm on Friday, he was not eligible because Monday was a bank holiday.
He added: “It is just interesting we signed him on the Friday afternoon and because of bank holiday weekend he isn’t able to play on Tuesday night so I wasn’t aware of it until late. I am not sitting here telling the Premier League what to do but if you sign a player on Friday, who gets bank holidays off any more? I don’t. You look at it and think it is the Premier League, the best league in the world. Maybe it is a quirk that will get changed.”
