According to a recent report from The Times, Everton manager Marco Silva is reluctant to allow Ademola Lookman to leave the club this month. The 20-year-old made the move to Goodison Park back in January 2017 but has been on the peripheries of the first team since then, to the point that he was shipped out on loan to Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig for the second half of last season.

And the German club are reportedly keen on signing him permanently this summer with a £22 million bid reportedly launched, and while the Toffees don’t want to let the £10.8 million-rated sensation (as per Transfermarkt) go, they should sanction his departure on the one condition that they sell him with a buy-back clause included in the deal.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, the 20-year-old made an incredible start to life on Merseyside by netting just minutes into his debut against Manchester City back in January 2017, but the attacker has since added just 23 further first team appearances for the club, netting on two more occasions.

And with only seven Premier League appearances in the first half of last season, Lookman instigated a loan move to Leipzig back in January, against the wishes of manager-at-the-time Sam Allardyce, and it’s a move from which he reaped the rewards in netting five times and laying on four assists in just 11 appearances for the German side.

Unsurprisingly, the Bundesliga outfit want to bring the England Under-20 World Cup winner back to the club this month given his excellent exploits last term, and with Richarlison making the move to Goodison Park earlier in the summer, it’s difficult to see how Lookman finds a way into Silva’s first team at Everton - he didn’t even make the squad against Wolves.

Thus, there is little doubting that a return to Germany would be in the 20-year-old’s best interests, but Everton know that the attacker has huge potential and could be a big asset to them in the years to come, if not in the immediate future.

The Englishman has shown glimpses of promise in an Everton shirt, not least in showing composure to net seconds after coming on against City 18 months ago, to suggest that he has a very bright future in the game, which is why the Toffees would be stupid to let Lookman leave without giving themselves an opportunity to buy him back in years to come.

Ultimately, £22 million would represent a fine return for someone they signed for £11 million a year-and-a-half ago, but such is the way football is at present, alongside how good Lookman was in the Bundesliga last season, his value could shoot up even more were he to produce the goods at Leipzig.

As such, Everton must guard themselves against that by inserting a buy-back clause into the deal, as while letting Lookman go this summer isn’t in their best interests, it is certainly in the best interests of the player himself - thus compromising with a buy-back clause appears to be the best solution.

Everton fans… what do you think? Let us know!