Everton have had a £30m bid for Arsenal midfielder Alew Iwobi rejected, claims the London Evening Standard.
The Toffees are desperate to bolster their offensive options before Thursday’s deadline for English clubs and have earmarked Iwobi as an alternative to first choice target Wilfried Zaha.
Everton have had a player-plus-cash deal for Zaha worth in excess of £80m rejected by Crystal Palace and have now turned their attention to Iwobi.
The Nigeria international was a key player of Unai Emery’s first season in charge of Arsenal but faces the prospect of limited game time this year.
Arsenal shattered their club-transfer record to sign Nicolas Pepe from Lille in a deal worth £72m last month and he is expected to take Iwobi’s place in the team.
Everton are expected to return with an improved offer for Iwobi but it would likely require an offer in excess of £40m to convince the Gunners to cash in on the 23-year-old.
Iwobi featured in all but three of Arsenal’s league matches last season and 22 of those were starts, though the Gunners had a better win ratio (62.5%) when he didn’t start compared to when he did (50%).
