Bournemouth spend record £40m on Evanilson as Brighton bid for Rutter

Bournemouth have moved to replace Dominic Solanke by agreeing a club-record £40m fee for the Porto striker Evanilson. The Brazilian, who scored 13 league goals in 27 league appearances last season, is expected to travel to England in the next 24 hours to finalise the move. The 24-year-old made his Brazil debut in June, in a friendly against Mexico.

Solanke joined Tottenham last week for £55m and Andoni Iraola has wasted no time in snapping up his replacement as they prepare to open their season at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Bournemouth’s previous record signing was Jefferson Lerma, who cost £25m when he joined from Levante in 2018. Evanilson was called into the Brazil squad for this summer’s Copa América and has won two caps.

Bournemouth have had a busy summer, with seven signings already, including Luis Sinisterra making his move from Leeds permanent for a fee of £20m, Enes Ünal joining from Getafe in a £14m deal and Dean Huijsen arriving from Juventus for £12.8m. Earlier this week the Barcelona defender Julián Araujo signed a five-year deal.

Meanwhile, Brighton have confirmed the signing of Brajan Gruda for £25m from Mainz and have activated the £40m release clause for the Leeds forward Georginio Rutter. Gruda, a Germany Under-21s winger, has agreed a four-year deal.

“I wouldn’t say he’s a typical German. He’s like a boy from the street, he likes the ball at his feet. He can do special things like all our offensive players,” said Brighton’s new manager, Fabian Hürzeler.

“He needs time, he’s come from Germany and he’s very young. The Premier League is the best league in the world and we’ll try to integrate him and make him ready.”

Brighton are also hoping to seal the signing of Rutter after meeting his release clause, with the France Under-21s forward deciding his future. “If there is a fit then we’ll see what happens,” said Hürzeler. “I will never say anything.”

Brighton have also confirmed that new signing Ibrahim Osman has joined Feyenoord on loan for the rest of the season.