Everton Bid for Norwegian Midfielder Sander Berge Rejected via Royal Blue Mersey
The Toffees bid for a young holding midfielder has been rebuffed
Everton has had a bid for Norwegian midfielder Sander Berge rejected by the player's club, Valerenga of the Tippeligaen, Norway's top league.
According to VG, a Norwegian tabloid,
Everton's bid for the 18-year-old was just short of 2 million pounds, with future bonuses potentially rising to around 3.5 million pounds.
Berge's agent, Mike Kjolo, confirmed to VG that a "concrete bid" came from Everton, but had no further comment on the matter. Valerenga's manager, Kjetil Rekdal told VG, "I'm not saying anything about it is true or not."
According to Opta, Berge is the one of only 21 players in the Tippeligaen to have completed more than 1,000 this season, and has the highest pass completion percentage (88.3%) of any of those players. Berge has appeared in 24 of Valerenga's 26 matches in all competitions this season.
Information on Berge is a bit scarce: he is 18 years old, plays as a holding midfielder, and is a big lad at 6'3" / 1.90 meters tall.
Given his age and inexperience playing at top levels, it seems reasonable to assume that
Ronald Koeman and Steve Walsh had Berge in mind as a player to come into Everton's youth side to start, much like Mason Holgate, who came to Everton from Barnsley at age 17. Still, with Muhamed Besic out injured and
Gareth Barry not getting any younger, it wouldn't be impossible to see Berge get a little time with the first team if he ended up at Goodison Park.
Though the deal appears to be dead for now, it is impossible to rule out an increased bid before the
transfer window closes, and a subsequent change of heart from Valerenga, particularly given Everton's relative inactivity during deadline day.
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