Wednesday 19 June 2019 17:30, UK
Everton have agreed a fee of £22m with Barcelona to sign midfielder Andre Gomes, Sky Sports News understands.
The player is expected to complete the formalities of a permanent move in the next 24 hours following his successful loan spell at Everton last season, when he made 29 appearances.
West Ham made Gomes a priority target this summer and have had two bids, of £18m and £20m, rejected by Barcelona for the 25-year-old.
The Portuguese international joined Barcelona from Valencia in July 2016 for £41.7m and has two years remaining on his contract at the Nou Camp.
He made 78 appearances during two seasons with the Catalan club, helping them win a La Liga title in 2018 and back-to-back Copa del Rey crowns.
Gomes is one of a number of players expected to leave Barca this summer as the Catalan club look to finance potential moves for Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann and Ajax centre-half Matthijs de Ligt.
Barca announced in January that midfielder Frenkie de Jong would arrive from Ajax on July 1 for a fee of £65m (€75m) with a further £9.5m (€11m) in add-ons.
Philippe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti, Malcom and Denis Suarez, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Arsenal, are others who have been linked with moves away from the Nou Camp.
It's not hard to see why Everton were so keen on making Gomes' loan deal from Barcelona permanent. The Portuguese midfielder has proven extremely popular among supporters.
He hosted a 'hug-a-thon' in aid of Everton in the Community's mental health fundraising campaign, The People's Place, last January.
But it is on the field where Gomes has really made his mark in a Blues shirt.
Since October 2018, no Everton player completed more dribbles during the 2018/18 season and he ranks highly in several key midfield departments.
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