Everton reportedly had a bid for Arsenal target Denis Cheryshev blocked.

The Real Madrid forward has been loaned out to Sevilla and most recently Villarreal but still the La Liga giants refused to sell to Everton.

Arsenal were also linked to the 24-year-old but, with a buy-out clause of £147m, I don’t see that happening any time soon.

The situation is a little strange, as the forward has only appeared for the Real Madrid first team once and, although while away on loan last season he scored seven goals in 40 appearances, it’s unclear why Madrid would be so precious about keeping ahold of him.

Cheryshev did have a decent run in the Madrid B team – the equivalent of our reserves – scoring 11 goals and assisting eight in 35 appearances.

The noise surrounding us making a potential move for the winger wasn’t nearly as loud as say, the commotion surrounding the Karim Benzema deal, but if we were in the market for forwards, who knows?