Sources: Everton submit £17.7m bid as they hijack Bournemouth's Dango Ouattara deal
Everton have submitted a £17.7million bid for Lorient winger Dango Ouattara, sources have told Football Insider.
It is believed the offer from the Merseysiders for the Burkina Faso international, 20, has been rejected by the French club.
The south-coast club are ready to submit an improved offer for the forward, that trumps the one on the table from Frank Lampard's side, as they look to tie up a January deal.
Ouattara is in big demand this month after catching the eye for Lorient this season with Everton, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Leicester all keen on him.
Everton's recruitment team and boss Lampard are in the market for attacking reinforcements and is looking to bring in new forwards.
Creating and scoring goals has been a major problem for Lampard’s team this season, with their 18 Premier League matches yielding just 14 goals.
Calvert-Lewin and Neal Maupay were Lampard’s only senior strikers until Ellis Simms was recalled from his loan at Sunderland on New Year’s Eve.
Injnury-prone Calvert-Lewin has only managed six Premier League starts this season with his eight total appearances in the competition yielding just one goal.
Summer signing Maupay has also struggled in front of goal, scoring once in 13 Premier League outings this term, though only seven of those appearances have been from the start.
Burkina Faso-born forward Ouattara started his professional career at a Burkinabe football club named Majestic FC, where he scored five times in 11 games.
His performances in his homeland clearly caught the eye of Lorient, who quickly snapped him up for their reserve team in 2020.