Everton have taken the lead in the race to sign Cristian Tello according to reports. Thanks to a good relationship between manager Roberto Martinez and the Catalan club, it appears as if The Premier League side are now the favourites to sign the pacey winger according to The Express.
EVERTON boss Roberto Martinez looks set to take advantage of his good relationship with Barcelona to beat Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Porto to Cristian Tello.
The 22 year old saw limited first team opportunities last season under manager Gerardo Martino leading to some frustration for the player, especially in light of some of Barcelona’s struggles.
Luis Enrique, the new man in charge of the Spanish giants, has already made it clear that he plans to include Gerard Deulofeu in his first team for this year as he moves to make his own mark on the squad.
Deulofeu impressed while at loan at Everton putting in a number of strong performances, earning a call up to the Spanish national side in May for a friendly against Bolivia. He missed out on the final World Cup squad but his progression over the last year has marked him as an excellent talent.
It’s Deulofeu’s progression while on loan at the club that gives Everton the edge in the battle to sign Tello reports The Express. The Barcelona club are hoping that a similar arrangement would see the Barcelona man develop as part of Roberto Martinez’s squad.
The Everton manager gave a number of young players significant game time this season including Ross Barkley – making him a perfect candidate to tutor Tello.
Tello has spent his youth and senior career at both Barcelona and Espanyol. He broke into the senior side in 2011 after making a number of appearances for Barcelona B between 2010 and 2012. Playing primarily as a winger of forward he has scored 11 league goals in 59 appearances for Catalan side.
