Heitinga joins Everton in 6m deal
⢠Versatile Dutch international signs five-year deal
⢠Former Ajax man beats deadline by 45 minutes
David Moyes endured further frustration in the transfer market yesterday despite signing the Holland defender Johnny Heitinga for an initial £6m from Atlético Madrid.
The Everton manager hoped to add Heitinga plus two midfield players to his squad before the window closed only for Valencia to thwart his lengthy pursuit of Ever Banega and for several other loan inquiries to fail to come to fruition. Moyes did, however, satisfy his search for two defenders to compensate for the loss of Joleon Lescott when Heitinga signed a five-year contract at Goodison Park 45 minutes before the deadline. The 25-year-old’s fee could rise to £7m with add-ons, and takes Moyes’ spending to £20m since the sale of Lescott to Manchester City for an initial £22m last week.
Heitinga, who joined Atlético for â¬10m (£8.8m) from Ajax last year, can operate at right-back or central defence and flew into Merseyside on a private jet yesterday afternoon to undergo a medical. But the deal for the central midfielder Banega collapsed when Valencia pulled out of a loan agreement with Everton and insisted on a permanent transfer for the Argentinian.
