Everton close in on £20m deal for Burnley winger Dwight McNeil
Everton are close to completing the signing of Dwight McNeil from Burnley for a fee of around £20m, including add-ons.
The 22-year-old winger is understood to have agreed personal terms on a five-year contract and commenced a medical. He will become the club’s third summer signing should the deal go through, following former Burnley teammate James Tarkowski and Sporting defender Ruben Vinagre. The Portuguese left-sided defender was signed on a season-long loan on Wednesday.
Everton were interested in another Burnley forward, Maxwel Cornet, but were unable to agree terms. They have turned their attentions to McNeil, a player who was on Rafael Benitez’s wish-list for Everton last summer, with manager Frank Lampard viewing the former England Under-21 international as a good acquisition for the present and future. Lampard is in need of additions up front having lost Richarlison to Tottenham.
Vincent Kompany, the new Burnley manager, admitted on Wednesday that McNeil could go with the relegated club having lost several key players from the Sean Dyche era for free this summer, including Tarkowski and Ben Mee.
“There have been a lot of conversations behind the scenes,” said Kompany. “These happen on a club-to-club level. We will have to see how it develops in the next few days.”
Meanwhile Crystal Palace have signed Bayern Munich defender Chris Richards on a five-year deal. The 22-year-old American centre-back joined Bayern from FC Dallas in 2018 and had been on loan at Hoffenheim since February 2021.
“I grew up watching the Premier League and grew up of course watching [Wilfried] Zaha, so it’ll be cool to spend some time on the field with them [the players] and be a part of this historic club,” Richards told the Palace website.
