For quite a while now, it was believed that Everton and Watford had a gentlemen's agreement in place for the transfer of Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Various reports stated previously that Carlo Ancelotti has managed to convince the midfielder to make the switch and it was just a matter of time before the deal was indeed sealed.

However, despite that growing optimism and positive first signs, the Toffees could still lose their target in the ongoing summer transfer window. According to the French journalist Manu Lonjon, AS Moncao have made a bid in the region of €25m (£22.3m) in an attempt to snatch the player away from Everton's grasp.

But at the moment, that's all the source is telling us and we don't know whether it would indeed be enough to turn the club's head and make them reconsider their dealings with the Toffees.

Not only that but it's also questionable whether Doucoure himself would rather return to Ligue 1 instead of getting the chance to play at Goodison Park in the Premier League.

However, at the very least, this could force Everton to up their own offer and splash a bit more cash to land the midfielder ahead of their French rivals. We will have to wait for further updates on the matter to have a clearer picture of where the saga-to-be currently is but Doucoure is becoming a more wanted man by the minute.

Verdict

Monaco's offer is pretty impressive but Everton do have a couple of clear advantages. Firstly, the pull a Premier League outfit has is significantly bigger than the notion of the player returning to France. Of course, the other advantage is Ancelotti himself who was said to have convinced Doucoure to make the swap in the first place.

But, this new offer might mean more money will have to be involved in order to get the deal over the line.