Well, that didn’t last long. Just two days after reports of a move to Premier League strugglers West Ham United emerged, the January target slammed down the shutters on Julen Lopetegui’s fingers.
Despite bringing Guido Rodriguez and Carlos Soler to the London Stadium over the summer – and despite retaining the services of Edson Alvarez despite those brief links with Manchester United – the centre of the pitch remains an area of real concern for the beleaguered Hammers.
Lopetegui has tried Rodriguez in the number six role. Though, while the former Barcelona target will not be leaving West Ham in January according to his representatives, there are serious doubts about whether he has the mobility to survive in the Premier League.
Alvarez, meanwhile, has been sent off twice this term already.
And while Lopetegui did mastermind that 2-0 win over Newcastle while partnering Soler with Lucas Paqueta, such a set-up leaves West Ham vulnerable especially in transition.
Arsenal scythed through the duo with consummate ease while putting five past The Hammers in just 40 minutes.
So when reports emerged this week suggesting that West Ham could turn to Evertton Araujo in the January transfer window, you could certainly see why the Flamengo enforcer may have emerged as an option.
West Ham United’s Evertton Araujo chances hit by new contract
Calciomercato reported that, in addition to West Ham, Evertton Araujo was on the radars of Borussia Dortmund, Lille, Atlanta, Inter Milan, Monaco, Porto and even German champions Bayer Leverkusen.
He reportedly had a release clause in his contract worth just £5 million, too. Or, at least, he did.
Because Evertton Araujo signed a new and improved contract with Flamengo just 48 hours after those West Ham links emerged. One which extends his stay until 2028, increases his salary, and replaces that £5 million release clause with a much bigger one, per O Dia.
Oh dear, indeed, for West Ham’s hopes of a bargain solution to one of their biggest problems.
Flamengo ace praised for his ‘ability to learn’ and his discipline
Evertton joined Flamengo from Volta Redonda back in 2023. And, after starting the season on the bench, the 21-year-old would establish himself as a key player in the second half of the 2024 campaign, earning plenty of praise from head coach Filipe Luis.
“Evertton is a player who has the greatest talent a human being can have, in my opinion, which is the ability to learn,” says Luis, the former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid left-back who won the 2013/14 La Liga title under Diego Simeone.
“He is an extremely disciplined and focused guy. He keeps doing extra work after training, and he has a tendency to evolve a lot.”
Now, it is not entirely impossible that Evertton still ends up making a move across the Atlantic.
A new release clause, though the size of it has not yet been confirmed, means Flamengo would still be powerless to prevent his departure should it be triggered by one of West Ham, Inter Milan, Bayer Leverkusen or another of his Europe-based suitors.
TBR understands, meanwhile, that The Hammers could look a lot closer to home for a midfield solution.
West Ham remain keen on Burnley captain Josh Brownhill. A long-term target – he snubbed David Moyes for Sean Dyche back in 2020 – Brownhill’s Turf Moor deal expires at the end of the current campaign.