Chelsea are ready to up the ante in their pursuit of Anthony Gordon and are willing to pay up to £60m.
The London club - under the new ownership of Todd Boehly - have already had a bid in excess of £40m rejected for the 21-year-old. But now Sky Sports claim they are ready to return with a £60m offer that is inclusive of any potential performance-related add-ons.
Everton have remained insistent throughout the window on keeping Gordon, so far rejecting Chelsea’s advances and fending off interest from elsewhere across the Premier League. But, in the last week, manager Frank Lampard has described the situation as a potential ‘business decision’, adding that it would be ‘naive’ of him to say Gordon will stay in a noticeable change of tone.
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“It’s a serious situation on a football level and a club business level, simple as that,” the Toffees boss said. “If you can join those two up and make the right decision, I will always consider the football one the most important because that is what my job will be judged on. Anthony Gordon is a fantastic player for us and that is why my answer is what it is.
“You can’t ask me to assure anything, it’ll be naive of me to assure anything. I can’t assure I’ll be here by the end of the window.”
Pressure is set to be heaped on those in charge at Goodison Park in the coming days, with Tottenham Hotspur also reportedly reigniting their interest in Gordon. Antonio Conte’s side were said to have attempted to broker an £80million double deal when signing Richarlison earlier this summer.
Lampard and Everton still have plenty of work to do themselves, with a new striker the absolute priority over the final week of the window. The sale of Gordon would leave another gap in the front-line which would need to be addressed.
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