Everton 'monitoring' £26m South American youngster as new transfer scout system takes off

Everton are reportedly 'monitoring' the progress of Corinthians midfielder Gabriel Moscardo.

Moscardo, 18, has emerged as a brilliant young talent who is starting to catch the eye of Europe's elite after breaking into the first-team.

The midfielder is being eyed as the future of Brazil's midfield and he made 13 starts in Brazil's Serie A in his breakout season but his side have struggled and sit just four points off the bottom three after 33 games played.

According to TEAMtalk, Moscardo has emerged as a target for a host of top clubs, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona all interested in completing a deal for him. There's also Newcastle, Fulham and, of course, Everton are interested in signing him - but Chelsea have made contact with Moscardo’s camp to find out the potential conditions of a deal and could pay up to £26m to fight off countless clubs.

His numbers are impressive when compared to Premier League players; Mario Lemina of Wolverhampton Wanderers (6.73) and Edson Alvarez of West Ham United (6.63) are the only players that can top his 5.97 interceptions per 90 minutes. Plus, the Brazilian’s 15.55 defensive actions can only be beaten by Fulham’s Joao Palhinha (16.19) and Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister (16.01). In terms of successful defensive actions, his 11.84 is more than anyone other than the trio of Palhinha (13.58); Sheffield United’s Vini Souza (12.12) and Alvarez (11.91).

For Everton, they are unlikely to outmuscle some of Europe's elite, but the interest is indicative of their new transfer policy - which we reported on last month.

In a report by the Athletic, the goal is reportedly to become ‘a more sustainable club, unearthing and developing talent at earlier ages to avoid paying higher transfer fees further down the line.’ Identifying players and signing them early has been a process that Brighton have mastered across the past five years. For example, they signed Moises Caicedo as a 19-year-old in 2021 for £4.5m before then selling him to Chelsea for a British transfer record of £115m.

Everton have splashed over £500m on signings since Farhad Moshiri came into the club in 2016 but they've made little to no progress during that time and currently find themselves building themselves back up under Sean Dyche.

Recruitment is also key because of their financial situation; the prospective takeover from 777 Partners is still yet to be confirmed but they have a global networks of scouts and analysts and they already own a club in Brazil in the shape of Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro.