Everton may have to stump up some cash if they want to sign El Bilal Toure this summer, with IDEAL via Sport Witness reporting that Almeria want at least £17m upfront to do business for the player.

Who is El Bilal Toure?

The 21-year-old only joined current side Almeria at the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign, but has already become a frequent member of their squad. He wasn't a regular starter, but still managed to get onto the field for 21 La Liga outings over the course of the season, with 15 starts. Even more impressive though is that the attacker managed seven goals and two assists in those appearances. It means that the Mali international had a rate of 0.64 goals or assists per 90 – the best effort of his career to date.

His goal haul is also the best of his league career. He broke onto the scene with Reims as a 17-year-old and went on to bag just nine goals and five assists during four seasons and 64 Ligue 1 outings with them, hailed as a "major talent" last summer by 90min's Graeme Bailey. In just one campaign with his new Spanish team, he has already nearly bettered that haul. In addition, his goals per 90 rate in La Liga of 0.50 actually puts him within the top ten in that statistic in the entire division.

It shows that the youngster is already proving to be prolific in front of goal and whilst his total isn't in double-digits, considering the amount of time he was on the field, it is actually a solid total.

Are Everton signing El Bilal Toure?

That has now led to interest already in signing the striker this summer. Everton have been one of the teams that have placed Toure on their transfer radar, with the Toffees now prepared to stump up the player's release clause of €40m (£34m) to get a deal over the line. However, the saga is continuing to go on this transfer window.

Now, according to a report from IDEAL via Sport Witness, Almeria are unhappy with the agreement that the Premier League side want to strike up for the Mali man. It appears that Everton want to try and pay for the striker in instalments but would also like to sign him on loan with a compulsory clause to buy him at the end of the agreement. The Spanish outfit do "not value" that approach and also would rather not sit out of the money for the 21-year-old unless there is a significant payment upfront. That fee is around the €20m (£17m) mark.

It means that if the Toffees do want to sign the youngster to an agreement this summer, then they will have to stump up more money in advance than they probably would have hoped for. Almeria want at least half of his current release clause this window to consider any potential transfer and with the English side not in the best financial position, that might not suit them.

However, if they can find the funds to get a deal done that would involve them paying the rest in instalments, they would be landing a player with potential. Toure hitting the rankings for his goal scoring in La Liga already shows that he knows where the back of the net is and some more first-team football could really allow him to start hitting double-digit totals – so a move could be one to watch.