Everton Linked To €25 Winger: Should The Toffees Spend The Money?

Everton Linked To €25 Winger: Should The Toffees Spend The Money? Everton are sniffing around Reims winger Keito Nakamura this summer, if the latest whisper mill is anything to go by. Marseille and Besiktas are in the frame too. Reims want €25 million for the 25-year-old Japan international. That is steep. Proper steep. An unnamed club already had an €18 million bid knocked back by the French side, who seem determined to play hardball for a player they bought from LASK for just €12 million three years back. Transfermarkt have his valuation pegged at €12 million. Half what Reims are demanding. Everton link with Keito Nakamura makes little sense at Reims’ overinflated valuation Nobody is disputing the lad’s output over in France. Nakamura bagged 14 goals and provided two assists across 29 appearances in Ligue 2 during the 2025/26 campaign. His underlying metrics look mint on paper, sitting right at the very top for non-penalty expected goals among second-tier forwards. Before Reims dropped out of Ligue 1 at the end of the 2024/25 season, he racked up 15 goals and three assists across 57 top-flight outings. He knows where the net is. Has 11 goals in 29 caps for Japan, too. Yet context matters here. Ligue 2 is not the Premier League, nowhere near it. Stepping up from the French second tier straight into the hustle of English football is a massive leap. Players who look like world-beaters down there frequently struggle when pressed by top-flight defenders who give them zero room to turn. It is a gamble Everton simply do not need to take right now. The cold, hard reality of Goodison finances GUADALUPE, MEXICO – JUNE 20: Keito Nakamura #13 of Japan runs with the ball during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F match between Tunisia and Japan at Monterrey Stadium on June 20, 2026 in Guadalupe, Mexico. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Everton cannot afford to throw €25 million at a punt. Years of walking the tightrope under Profitability and Sustainability rules have left deep scars on the club’s transfer chest. Things are steadier now, sure. But spending more than double a player’s realistic market value on someone fresh out of second-division football is financial madness. Marseille looks a far better fit for him. Keeps him in France, puts him back in Ligue 1, gives him a manageable step up. Besiktas offer guaranteed European football through the Turkish route. Both options fit his current level better than jumping headfirst into a Premier League dogfight. At €15 million with a few performance add-ons tacked on? Fair enough. That feels like a sensible flutter with decent upside. At €25 million? Reims are taking the piss. Some will point to the commercial benefits of signing a high-profile Japanese star, especially with the 2026 World Cup kicking off this summer. Shirts will sell. Sponsors might call. But signing players for the marketing department rarely works out on the pitch, and Everton need actual quality to improve their starting eleven, not a PR stunt. Reims need to lower their demands significantly, or Everton ought to turn around and walk away.