Everton ruin WORLD-RECORD Real Madrid transfer
Tom Weber
- Updated: 5 Sept 2023 12:46 BST
- 4 min read
Everton have stopped Nathalie Bjorn's potentially record-breaking transfer to Real Madrid, according to Swedish media.
The transfer window of the Liga F, the Spanish women's top flight, is still open until Wednesday (September 6), but the World Cup star won't be heading to Los Blancos, according to Fotbollskanalen.
Despite playing in defence where players rarely get the credit they deserve, Bjorn was one of the breakout stars at the Women's World Cup as Sweden came third and she can rightfully be considered one of the players of the tournament.
We have already seen plenty of stars move off the back of impressive performances in Australia and New Zealand, like Esmee Brugts to Barcelona and Hinata Miyazawa who appears to be on her way to Man Utd, and Real Madrid were keen to make Bjorn the next name on that list.
But her current club, Everton, had other ideas.
What a ball from Nathalie Björn and a cool calm finish from 20 year old Jess Park 🥶🧊 pic.twitter.com/pLXUXi2Kgu
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) September 25, 2022
Everton stop move
Even though the Women's Super League transfer window doesn't close until September 14 - with the season kicking off on October 1 - Everton are now refusing to let Bjorn move to Real Madrid despite the player's contract expiring next year, according to the above-mentioned report.
The Swedish outlet claims that this wasn't always their stance. On the contrary, "Everton had been open to selling the Swedish national team star, as she has not yet participated in pre-season training. The Merseyside club, however, wanted to find a replacement first."
READ: The 10 most expensive WSL transfers of all time
But now, Everton coach Brian Sorensen has put a stop to all transfer talk regarding Bjorn. Real are said to have made "several" bids with a world-record salary being offered to the defender, but the Toffees are refusing to budge.
The report does, however, also state that the Spanish capital club will continue to try to strike a deal before Wednesday's deadline. If they fail to do so, they will feel confident of getting her to agree to a contract for next summer in January.
